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CASES & INVESTIGATIONS |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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Mitsubishi Montero, Montero Sport, Endeavor,
Outlander SUV Rollover: Free Case Review |
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| In 2005, the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety issued a report finding
that the Mitsubishi Montero Sport made between
1999 and 2002 had the fifth highest driver death
rate of the midsize two-wheel drive SUVs that were
part of the study. The Mitsubishi Montero Sport
was discontinued in North America in 2004. The
Mitsubishi Montero was discontinued in 2006. |
| Accident investigators
studying rollover accidents involving Mitsubishi
SUVs have alleged that the Mitsubishi Montero
and Montero Sport are too narrow and too tall,
which makes them susceptible to untripped rollover.
Other vehicles in their same class have track
widths several inches wider without any loss
of function or utility. The relatively
narrow track found on the Mitsubishi SUVs lead
to a less stable vehicle, prone to rollover. |
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addition, Mitsubishi has been criticized
for alleged weaknesses in the roof structure
of its Montero, Montero Sport, Endeavor and
Outlander SUVs. During a rollover accident,
passengers are placed in danger of serious
injury or death if the vehicle's roof collapses. |
| The reason SUVs – and
also pick-ups –are more likely to rollover
in a collision, sudden movement or accident
as compared to most cars and station wagons
is that SUVs have a higher center of gravity.
SUVs ride higher from the ground than passenger
cars. While rollovers represent about 3% of
all crashes in the U.S., almost 33% of total
deaths on highways occur in rollover crashes. |
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Mitsubishi Rollover Dangers |
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| Mitsubishi Rollover Lawsuits |
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| Mitsubishi
Rollover Press Article Excerpts: |
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| In 2001, Consumer’s
Union, the non-profit advocacy group that
publishes Consumer Reports, ran field tests
of six different SUVs including the Mitsubishi
Montero Limited. |
| The study was designed
to test handling in emergency avoidance maneuvers
as well as at high speeds. In 8 out of 9
runs at speeds of 36.7 mph or greater, the
Mitsubishi Montero tipped on to two wheels
during sharp right turns. Consumer Reports interpreted this data to show that Montero
had a high propensity to rollover and gave
the vehicle a “NOT ACCEPTABLE” rating.
At the time, this was only one of three vehicles
to ever receive this rating in the 13 year
history of Consumer Union’s roadtests. |
| In April 2006, Consumer
Reports published its automobile ratings.
For the 2003 model of the Mitsubishi Montero
it concluded that though it performed better
than the 2001 Montero Limited now that
it was equipped with standard ESC, it was
still “clumsy and disconcerting” in
handling. It earned a "Poor Rating" for
emergency handling. |
| According to Consumer
Reports, the Mitsubishi Outlander is
less nimble than some of the other vehicles
in its class because of "overly light
steering" and a "pronounced body
lean". |
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| Lieff
Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP represents persons injured
in vehicle accidents. Click
here to submit your case. |
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is no charge or obligation
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review of your case. |
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have a nationwide
team of experienced auto
defect and car accident
lawyers assigned
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cases. |
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We
have retained leading
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and auto defect experts. |
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| Under pressure from consumer groups, the National
Highway Traffic and Safety Administration instituted
a 5-star rating system for vehicles in 2001. This
rating system is based on a vehicles's Static Stability
Factor [SSF] and uses a mathematical formula to
determine the center of gravity of the vehicle.
The higher the center of gravity, the greater the
risk for rollover in emergency avoidance maneuvers. |
| However, the National Academy of Sciences [NAS]
came out with a report in February 2002 that concluded
that dynamic on-road testing of vehicles was a
necessary addition to the SSF system used by NHTSA
to evaluate rollover propensity. In October 2003,
NHTSA released a dynamic rollover resistance test
in each vehicle is loaded with the equivalent of
five adult-size passengers and subjected to a reverse-steer
driving maneuver designed to provoke a possible
tip-up in a severe but real world steering scenario. |
| In 2004, no sport-utility vehicles won the government's
highest safety rating of 5-stars in the round of
rollover tests. In the NHTSA released rollover
ratings for 14 SUVs from the 2003 model year, while
most SUVs received three out of five stars, the
Mitsubishi Montero Sport received two-star ratings. |
| The national law firm
of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP,
represents victims of rollover accidents and other
vehicle crashes in personal injury lawsuits. If
you or a family member have been injured in a Mitsubishi
SUV rollover accident, please click
here to contact a Lieff Cabraser injury attorney
for a free, prompt, no-obligation review of your
case. |
| Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP, is a national law firm of over 50 lawyers with offices in San Francisco,
New York and Nashville. Our attorneys are recognized
for the successful prosecution of lawsuits involving deaths, personal injuries
and property damage due to defective products, including in the field of vehicle
safety. |
| In 2007, in the case
of Mraz
v. DaimlerChrysler, Lieff Cabraser
attorneys, with local co-counsel, obtained
the fourth largest verdict in California for
the year. At trial, plaintiffs showed that
a defective
transmission was responsible for making
a Dodge Dakota pickup shift into reverse and
run over Richard Mraz. |
| Currently, we are
prosecuting personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits involving cars, vans,
pickup trucks, SUVs, the Yamaha Rhino and other
vehicles. To learn more about the firm, click
here. |
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| Trademark Notice:
Vehicle Injuries.com is an electronic newsletter from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP, a national personal injury attorney | lawyer law firm. |
| Lieff Cabraser is not
affiliated in any way with any trademark owner. The use of any trademarks on
this site is for product identification and information purposes only. |
| About Lieff Cabraser:
Drivers and passengers injured in auto crashes and pickup truck and SUV rollover
accidents, or families of loved ones who died, may be eligible to file lawsuits
against other drivers at fault or against the manufacturer of their vehicle if
the accident was due to a safety defect. Safety defects can include a high risk
of rolling
over, tire tread
separation, seat
belt failures and other defects. Learn
more... |
| We have offices in San
Francisco, New York and Nashville.
Our car crash accident lawyers and auto accident attorneys have represented
clients in personal injury, auto accident, SUV rollover and vehicle safety defect
lawsuits across America, including persons living in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas,
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii,
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Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia,
Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming. |
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| Copyright © 2008 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
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