About SUVs
Proving rollover risk
Rollover deaths predictable
The SUV battle

SUVs have gained unwanted notoriety as hazardous vehicles. Experts show that these many of accidents are preventable with design changes. Manufacturers argues that other causes exists, and that blame should not sit squarely on the shoulders of the manufacturers.

Height vs. Width
Many SUVs have a basic design flaw. They are built higher than they are wide. Simple physics can show how this is a potential hazard. Take a box and try to tip it onto another side. If the box is higher than it is wide, it will not resist being tipped. If wider, than the box will not tip without considerable force.

So it is with an SUV. Experts show that some SUV makes rollover in up to 34% of accidents, a disastrous percentage. Fatalities increase dramatically in rollover accidents. Drivers and passengers are sometimes violently thrown from the vehicle. In other instances, the roof caves in, crushing the people inside. People are more easily trapped in rollover accidents. Those who might have escaped to get help instead die from loss of blood or other hazards that result from delayed attention.

Experts note that manufacturers could easily change design to address the greatest of their concerns. If vehicle height were equivalent to vehicle track width (the distance between the center of two tires on the same axle) and not greater, rollovers would reduce dramatically.

Manufacturers Make Changes
"There are practical limitations because of what the vehicle is designed to do," says Lance Roberts, communications manager for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents thirteen automakers. "You can only make a vehicle so wide or so short."

This is a recognizable protest from the automobile manufacturers. They build SUVs according to the needs of families. Nonetheless, even manufacturers admit that certain design improvements could reduce the high percentage of fatal accidents that involve SUVs.

Manufacturers are starting to add skid prevention systems, recognizing that sideways slides often lead to rollovers. BMW, Mercedes, and Toyota have made this feature standard. Ford plans to add it to the Windstar SUV next year.

Experts Say It's Not Enough
Safety expert Carl Nash, formerly of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that many SUV suspensions do not match the standards of passenger cars. An improvement in suspension systems would also decrease the chance of rollovers.

NHTSA also would like to see SUVs equipped with a roadway-departure sensing and warning capability. Such a system would tell drivers if they are approaching turns at high speeds and risking rollover accidents.

Roof strength is often below standard. NHTSA wants to see standards for roof strength raised to protect passengers from the possibility of being crushed inside their SUV.

Sometimes It's the Driver
NHTSA notes that SUV drivers and passengers sometimes increase their own risk.

Often, fatally injured victims of rollover accidents did not wear seatbelts. Drinking has also been involved in numerous fatal accidents. Sometimes, speeding or needlessly aggressive has increased this risk.