Three Common Causes of Rollover Crashes
Rollover crashes are not an everyday occurrence, but when they do happen, they’re quite often deadly. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), rollover crashes are one of the most deadly forms of motor vehicle accident. Drivers of older model SUVs, trucks, and vans are at a particularly high risk of being involved in a fatal rollover crash. Learning what causes these crashes can help you avoid them. Read on for three of the top causes of rollover accidents, and contact a skilled Charlottesville motor vehicle accident attorney as soon as possible after an accident.
- Defective vehicle design
Rollovers are attributable to a vehicle’s instability when the center of gravity shifts suddenly. When a car turns sharply, experiences a sudden change in elevation or is sharply knocked sideways by an object or other motor vehicle, then the vehicle’s stability will be affected, and the vehicle could be knocked sideways. If the vehicle is designed with a high center of gravity and narrow track (the distance between wheels on the left and right), then the vehicle will become more likely to be thrown off-balance and roll over. For a number of years, SUVs and pickup trucks were being dangerously designed without regard for their high rollover risk. While automotive manufacturers have improved designs since this time, SUVs remain much more likely to tip when knocked off balance. A poor vehicle design that causes a rollover crash could entitle the victim to file a product liability lawsuit.
- Poor roadway conditions
Conditions such as snow and ice are more likely to cause a vehicle to lose full contact with the road and hit a “trip,” or an object on the road. The trip, often a curb or guardrail, will cause the vehicle to tip to the right or left, resulting in a rollover. Trips in the road are even more likely to result in a rollover if the driver is traveling at an excessive rate of speed, or if the driver is not looking at the road but instead down at a phone when they encounter the trip.
- Steering wheel jerking
Jerking a wheel sharply to avoid another collision can cause a vehicle to be knocked off-balance and roll over. Drivers often have to jerk the wheel with great force when they are traveling too fast for conditions or following the car in front of them too closely.