Texas Personal Injury Lawyers – Jim Adler & Associates – Blog

Are SUVs Crashworthy?

They are big. They make you feel safe. But under certain circumstances the SUV is a hearse. It’s a vehicle that can easily take your life in a rollover accident or inflict catastrophic, life-altering injuries. Some experts say, the very height and size of an SUV limits its crashworthiness. Manufacturing defects, such as weak roofs and improper safety restraint systems, further reduce the SUVs ability to protect passengers in accidents. Not one single SUV received the highest safety rating awarded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association in 2003. In 2005, NHTSA reported that approximately 10,000 people die each year in vehicle rollover accidents, many in SUVs. Sixty percent of these victims weren’t wearing seatbelts. According to data in 2007 from Consumer Reports, another 24,000 victims suffered catastrophic injuries including paralysis and brain damage in rollovers.

The Danger of the Double Lane Change in an SUV

The rate of SUV rollovers is two to three times greater than that of cars. Because SUVs have a higher center of gravity and because their height makes them more top heavy, they are more prone to rollover, especially when swerving abruptly to avoid hitting an object or person. Double lane-change is a test that measures the maneuverability of the SUV. In real life, a double lane change often occurs when an SUV driver is trying to avoid an accident. This sudden maneuver can easily cause the SUV to tip on two wheels, resulting in a roll over. This type of rollover occurred frequently in 2000 with Ford/Firestone vehicles, leaving hundreds dead and many more injured.

Tragedies Caused by SUV Roof Crushes

In rollover accidents, roof crush is the primary cause of serious injury and death. In 2005, NHTSA estimated that there are 596 fatalities and 807 serious injuries annually caused by passenger contact with a collapsed roof during a rollover crash. An SUV needs a strong roof to create the “survival space” necessary to protect occupants during a rollover crash. Despite heavy criticism from vehicle safety advocacy groups, SUV manufacturers are not installing the types of roll bars needed to protect occupants during rollovers. Manufacturers say it’s the force of the impact that causes injury and death, not the design of the roof. As long as they resist new roof safety designs, thousands of catastrophic injuries and deaths can be expected each year.

New Roof Standards Not Implemented

In 1973 the government created the Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216 that measures the integrity of roof structure in motor vehicles. Under this standard, a roof pillar on a passenger car cannot deform more than five inches when subjected to a force 1 ½ times the vehicle’s weight or 6,000 lbs. Since this test applies only to vehicles that weigh six thousand pounds or less, and since most SUVs weigh more than that, they are virtually exempt from this 30-year-old compulsory standard. In 2005, NHTSA proposed a new roof crush standard that would increase vehicle weight to 10,000 to include SUVs. By March 2008 it had still not been approved.