PEARSON & PEARSON, L.L.P.

Our law firm is an aggressive group of lawyers practicing trial law. Our practice is concentrated in the areas of: personal injury, environmental, chemical, and commercial litigation.

Our current Projects are listed in the Menu on the left side of this screen. Current projects include

-- (a) SUV or ATV Rollover cases, or

-- (b) any type of vehicle collisions

    resulting in substantial injury or death.

We are happy to provide you free information, to discuss and review your individual situation, or try to assist you. The references shown below will lead you to some of the critical information you need in a review of this tragic area. The source of most of this information is shown. We have attempted to rely upon Federal Government Agencies, the News Services, health providers and other reliable sources.

Contact our law firm toll free at (800) 447-6443 or locally at (713) 739-8600. You may also contact Jim Pearson directly at (713) CALL-JIM or via email at Pearsonpc@aol.com. Visit our Homepage for more information on our law firm and what we offer our clients

Rollover Accidents Explained

The deadliest risk facing SUV, minivan, and truck occupants is a rollover accident. According to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), more than 280,000 rollover accidents are reported each year. More than 10,000 lives are lost annually.

In 2003, 35.7 % of fatal SUV crashes resulted in a rollover. In comparison, only 15.8 % of fatal passenger car accidents resulted in a rollover. What this statistic points out is the fact that SUVs are much more likely to rollover in a serious accident. Compounding this problem is the fact that SUVs often carry heavy loads with make them even more top-heavy and thus are more likely to be involved in rollover accidents.

Causes of Rollover Accidents

Rollover accidents are directly related to a vehicle's stability.  That stability is influenced by the relationship between the center of gravity and the track width (distance between the left and right wheels). A high center of gravity and narrow track can make a vehicle unstable in fast turns or sharp changes of direction. This increases the odds that it will tip over once it begins to skid sideways. The problem is most pronounced in 4-wheel-drive pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, which have a higher ground clearance for off-road driving.

Most fatal 4WD rollovers are single-vehicle accidents. Most of those accidents occur on weekend nights. The drivers are most frequently males under 25, and alcohol is usually involved. In three out of four fatal rollovers, the victims were ejected from the vehicle, indicating they weren't wearing a seatbelt.

Rollover Accident Risk Rating System

Neither cars nor trucks are subject to a federal rollover standard, though pressure for such a requirement has been building. NHTSA introduced a rollover rating system in 2001. Reported on a five-star system, the rollover ratings are based on an engineering analysis of each vehicle's center of gravity and the width between the front tires. The results are compared with police accident reports for confirmation. Five stars equals a rollover risk of less than 10 percent, while one star indicates a greater than 40 percent rollover risk.

The “Star Rating” and “percent (%) chance of rollover” and “dynamic test results”.

A Rollover Star Rating compares a vehicles’ chances of rollover. Remember, 5-stars is the highest rating and represents those vehicles least likely to rollover. Rollover star ratings can be compared across vehicle classes and weights.

When two vehicles have the same star rating, consumers should then compare the Chance of Rollover (percentage) between vehicles. The lower the percentage the less likely a vehicle is to rollover. Remember, this percentage depends both on the static stability factor (SSF) (see below) and whether or not the vehicle tips up during the dynamic test.

The rollover “Diamond and Bar” graph.

This graphic is to be used as a supplemental piece of information to a vehicle’s rollover star rating. The diamond represents the vehicle’s percent chance of rollover if involved in a single vehicle crash. The bar represents the range of percentages for all vehicles tested in a given vehicle class (passenger cars, vans, pickup trucks, or SUVs) for the last three model years (the current model year plus the two earlier model years).

SUVs are not the only vehicles that roll over.

A rollover crash can happen in any type of vehicle. SUVs, like pickup trucks and minivans, typically ride higher off the ground than passenger cars and have higher centers of gravity, and thus are more susceptible to rollover if involved in a single-vehicle crash. But while vehicle type does play a significant role, other factors such as driver behavior and road and environmental conditions also help determine whether or not a vehicle rolls over.

Even a five-star vehicle has up to a 10% risk of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash. In fact, certain five-star vehicles, such as sports cars, may have a higher number of rollovers per 100 registered vehicles than certain three-star vehicles, such as minivans, due to the aggressive way in which the vehicle is driven and/or the age and skill of the driver.

 How to interpret NHTSA's combined rollover resistance rating.

The “Rollover Resistance Rating System” predicts a vehicle's chance of rollover in single-vehicle crashes by combining: (1) an at-rest laboratory measurement known as the Static Stability Factor (SSF) which determines how top-heavy a vehicle is, and (2) the results of a dynamic maneuvering test that determines how susceptible the vehicle is to an on-road un-tripped rollover.

About 95% of rollovers are tripped - meaning the vehicle strikes something low, such as a curb or shallow ditch, causing it to tip over. The Static Stability Factor (SSF) is specifically designed to measure this more common type of rollover and thus plays a significant role in a vehicle's star rating. The SSF rating and the tip or no tip results of a vehicle's dynamic maneuvering test are combined into one overall rollover star rating.