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CASES & INVESTIGATIONS |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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Why Are Pickup
Truck 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. |
| In 2004, the U.S.
Department of Transportation's National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) developed
a new test for rating the likelihood pickup
trucks 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. |
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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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| 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. |
| 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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review of your case. |
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We
have a nationwide
team of experienced auto
defect and car accident
lawyers assigned
to our vehicle injury
cases. |
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We
have retained leading
national car crash
and auto defect experts. |
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We
have on staff a team
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legal assistants, investigators
and nurses to assist
in the prosecution
of the claims of our
clients. |
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We
provide individual
attentive service.
Learn
more about our firm. |
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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,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland,
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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hiring of an auto accident lawyer is an important decision. Please read our attorney
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| Copyright © 2009 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP |
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