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CASES & INVESTIGATIONS |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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Why Are SUV Rollover
Accidents A Significant Issue? |
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| SUVs and pickup trucks
have higher fatality rates for their occupants
than passenger cars, and substantially higher death
rates than minivans. |
| In 2002, 10,666 people
were killed in rollover crashes, up five percent
from 2001. Sixty-one percent of all persons
killed in sport utility vehicles (SUV) crashes
and 45 percent of persons killed in pickup
truck accidents were the result of rollover
crashes. By comparison, only 22 percent of
passenger car fatalities in 2002 were the result
of a rollover crash. |
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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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| The reason SUVs are more
likely to rollover in a collision, sudden movement
or accident is that, compared to most cars and
station wagons, SUVs have a higher center of gravity. |
| In 2004, the U.S.
Department of Transportation's National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) developed
a new test for rating the likelihood SUVs would
roll over in crashes. The dynamic test uses
the so-called "fishhook" maneuver
-- a series of abrupt turns at varying speeds
-- to match what happens when drivers drift
off the road and overcompensate. |
| Previously, the agency
used a mathematical calculation, factoring
in a vehicle's specifications, to gauge rollover
risk. But Congress, in 2000, ordered regulators
to develop track tests after nearly 300 rollover
deaths in Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone
tires in the late 1990s. |
| In the new tests,
vehicles are driven through as many as ten
fishhook maneuvers. The tests are conducted
at speeds ranging from 35 to 50 miles per hour.
Vehicles are outfitted with equipment to prevent
an actual rollover and testing is halted as
soon as a vehicle tips on two wheels. |
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Learn
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| Consumer groups have been
sharply critical of the government's new testing
because it has inflated grades for some vehicles.
For example, the Toyota Tacoma tipped up on two
wheels, yet still received three of five stars
on the test. "The result defies common sense
and it gives a misleading impression to the consumer," said
R. David Pottle of the Consumers Union in a Wall
Street Journal report. |
| In response, NHTSA also
is providing a number which represents the probability,
or percentage chance, that a vehicle will roll
over in a crash similar to NHTSA's real test. |
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| NHTSA uses the following
star system to evaluate the rollover rates for
an SUV: |
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= up
to a 10% chance of rollover during single
vehicle crash |
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= 10%
to 20% chance of rollover during single vehicle
crash |
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= 21%
to 30% chance of rollover during single vehicle
crash |
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= 31%
to 40% chance of rollover during single vehicle
crash |
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= greater
than 40% chance of rollover during single
vehicle crash |
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2004
Sport Utility Vehicles
Rollover Resistance Test Scores |
| Make & Model |
Rollover
Resistance
Rating |
%
Chance of Rollover |
Tip/No
Tip |
| Buick
Rainier 4-DR.4x2 w/SAB |
|
20.4 |
No
Tip |
| Buick
Rainier 4-DR.4x4 |
|
19.1 |
No
Tip |
| Buick
Rainier 4-DR.4x4 w/SAB |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| Chevrolet
Tahoe 4-DR. 4x2 w/SAB |
|
28.3 |
Tip |
| Chevrolet
Tahoe 4-DR. 4x4 w/SAB |
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26.3 |
Tip |
| Chevrolet
Trailblazer 4-DR. 4x2 w/SAB |
|
20.4 |
No
Tip |
| Chevrolet
Trailblazer 4-DR. 4x4 |
|
19.1 |
No
Tip |
| Chevrolet
Trailblazer 4-DR. 4x4 w/SAB |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| Chrysler
Pacifica 4-DR. 4x2 |
|
14.0 |
No
Tip |
| Chrysler
Pacifica 4-DR. 4x4 |
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13.0 |
No
Tip |
| Dodge
Durango 4-DR 4x2 |
|
21.2 |
No
Tip |
| Dodge
Durango 4-DR. 4X4 |
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19.1 |
No
Tip |
| Ford
Escape 4-DR. 4x2 |
|
23.7 |
Tip |
| Ford
Escape 4-DR. 4x4 |
|
20.4 |
Tip |
| Ford
Explorer 4-DR. 4x2 |
|
28.3 |
Tip |
| Ford
Explorer 4-DR. 4x4 |
|
22.8 |
No
Tip |
| Ford
Explorer Sport Trac 4x2 |
|
34.8 |
Tip |
| Ford
Explorer Sport Trac 4x4 |
|
27.9 |
No
Tip |
| GMC
Envoy 4-DR.4x2 w/SAB |
|
19.1 |
No
Tip |
| GMC
Envoy 4-DR.4x4 |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| GMC
Envoy 4-DR.4x4 w/SAB |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| GMC
Yukon 4-DR. 4x2 w/SAB |
|
28.3 |
Tip |
| GMC
Yukon 4-DR. 4x4 w/SAB |
|
26.3 |
Tip |
| Honda
Pilot 4-DR. 4x4 w/ SAB |
|
15.9 |
No
Tip |
| Isuzu
Ascender 4-DR. 4x2 w/SAB |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| Isuzu
Ascender 4-DR. 4x4 |
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Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| Isuzu
Ascender 4-DR. 4x4 w/SAB |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| Jeep
Liberty 4-DR. 4x2 |
|
24.6 |
No
Tip |
| Jeep
Liberty 4-DR. 4x4 |
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21.9 |
No
Tip |
| Mazda
Tribute 4x2 |
|
23.7 |
Tip |
| Mazda
Tribute 4-DR. 4x4 |
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20.9 |
Tip |
| Mercury
Mariner 4x2 |
|
23.7 |
Tip |
| Mercury
Mariner 4x4 |
|
20.9 |
Tip |
| Mercury
Mountaineer 4-DR. 4x2 |
|
28.3 |
Tip |
| Mercury
Mountaineer 4-DR. 4x4 |
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22.8 |
No
Tip |
| Nissan
Murano 4-DR. 4x4 w/SAB |
|
15.1 |
No
Tip |
| Nissan
Murano 4x2 |
|
15.9 |
No
Tip |
| Oldsmobile
Bravada 4-DR. 4x2 |
|
20.4 |
No
Tip |
| Oldsmobile
Bravada 4-DR. 4x4 |
|
19.1 |
No
Tip |
| Oldsmobile
Bravada 4-DR. 4x4 w/SAB |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| Subaru
Forester 4-DR.4x4 w/SAB |
|
Not
Rated |
Not
Rated |
| Toyota
4Runner 4-DR. 4x2 |
|
21.9 |
No
Tip |
| Toyota
4Runner 4-DR. 4x4 |
|
20.4 |
No
Tip |
| Volvo
XC90 4-DR. 4x4 |
|
17.9 |
No
Tip |
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| 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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Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming. |
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| Copyright © 2008 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP |
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