Vehicle Rollovers: Infrequent But Deadly

At Clark and Steinhorn we see all manner of car and truck crashes in both Maryland and the District of Columbia, but the deadliest are often vehicle rollovers. This is in part a function of the severity of crashes which produce enough force to result in a vehicle turning over but also the result of inadequate roof strength in the overwhelming majority of vehicles.

Unsuprisingly, vehicle manufacturers routinely suggest that their vehicles do not have a propensity for rolling over and also that on the rare occasions that they do flip, that they are plenty safe. This is belied by traffic fatality numbers and demonstrated in the so-called "Jordan Rollover System". The "Jordan Rollover System" or JRS, is a device for evaluating roof strength and vehicle occupant safety in the event of a rollover accident.

Public Citizen, one of the preeminent safety organizations, has focused a good deal of attention on rollover safety and their website contains a wealth of information. See: http://www.citizen.org/documents/Safety%20briefing%20on%20roof%20crush%20final.pdf

One of the somewhat suprising revelations of research on rollovers is that opposite side passengers are far more likely to die than same side occupants. Which is to say that when a rollover occurs, the first side over is safer and the second side deadlier.

Therein lies a problem with Federal Roof-Integrity testing standards. The test is only for the near-side and consequently misses evaluation of the vehicle's true weak-points.

It is estimated that rollover occurs in only 4% of car crashes but results in 35% of fatalities. Perhaps, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration could adopt more realistic standards and save lives.