SUV Rollovers

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When your SUV rolls over, you are at the mercy of the automakers who continue to put their defective vehicles on the road.

SUVs are among the most popular vehicles of cars on the road – they ferry children to soccer games, mom to the grocery store, or the whole family on a vacation adventure. But because of the way they are built, they are among the most dangerous vehicles on the road – to their drivers and passengers, and the drivers and passengers in other cars.

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Because SUVs have a high profile and narrow track width, they are especially prone to roll over because of disruption to their center of gravity. When they do roll over, their weak roof and poor crash protection place occupants at a high risk for death or paralysis. Here are some alarming facts from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the US Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS):

  • Studies indicate that SUVs are nearly four times more likely to roll over than other passenger cars.
  • Consequently, SUVs are more likely to be involved in fatal single-vehicle crashes; they account for more than half of single-vehicle accident deaths.
  • Crash fatality reports for 2009 indicate that since 1975, total passenger car occupant deaths have decreased 45% - but SUV occupant deaths are nearly 10 times higher.

The major culprit in SUV rollovers is defective design, whether in the tires – which support the SUVs center of gravity – or other vehicle parts. Defective tires can be especially lethal: When the tread separates while a SUV is going at high speed, the driver can no longer control the vehicle. But rollovers would not be deadly if SUVs were designed differently: SUV roofs are so fragile that they collapse in a rollover and kill or maim the car’s occupants

Safety experts agree that the lethal defect in SUV rollover accidents is roof crush and the collapse of roof supports, which also can eject occupants and expose them to even greater injury. In a 2008 study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on eleven mid-sized SUVs, the vehicles with the strongest roofs demonstrated nearly half the injury risks of those with the weakest roofs. New research reported in March 2009 by the NHTSA confirms that, in actual rollovers, injury risk decreases as measurable roof strength increases.

In the meantime, automakers continue to ignore the evidence and market their defective SUVs. So the death toll mounts, as does the number of drivers and passengers brain-damaged or paralyzed.

At Searcy Denney, we have seen first-hand the tragic consequences of SUV manufacturers’ negligence. Here is one of the most egregious examples:

  • Searcy Denney attorney Sean Domnick represented a Florida family whose Ford Bronco II went into a spin when a tire blew, rolling over onto the passenger side roof edge. The passenger in the front seat sustained severe injuries to her skull and forehead. As the Bronco continued to roll over, window glass shattered and two back seat passengers were ejected and killed.

    The Searcy Denney team’s meticulous investigation linked the two deaths, and the front-seat passenger’s injuries, to the Bronco’s rollover and crushed roof. It became clear that Ford Motor Company had known since the 1980s that the Bronco II could roll over, even in ordinary use. But the company failed to design a roll cage or other protective device that would protect occupants. In addition, Ford failed to provide window glass that would not shatter and allow passengers to be ejected.

    Ford Motor Company hired high-powered defense attorneys from Florida and Colorado, but after extensive mediation and negotiation, Searcy Denney was able to negotiate a seven-figure confidential settlement.

This is only one of the SUV rollover cases where Searcy Denney attorneys have sought justice for their injured clients and gained substantial verdicts or settlements. If a loved one has been killed, or you or a family member has been injured, in a SUV rollover accident, please fill out our Contact Form, or call us to learn more and arrange a confidential free consultation.