Rollover Facts

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Fatalities

Rollovers are dangerous incidents and have a higher fatality rate than other kinds of crashes. Of the nearly 11 million passenger car, SUV, pickup and van crashes in 2002, only 3% involved a rollover.

However, rollovers accounted for nearly 33% of all deaths from passenger vehicle crashes. In 2002 alone, more than 10,000 people died in rollover crashes. The majority of them (72%) were not wearing wearing safety belts.


Causes

Rollovers are complex crash incidents and are particularly violent in nature. Rollovers, more so than other types of crashes, reflect the interaction of the driver, road, vehicle, and environmental factors. So while vehicle type does play a significant role, other factors such as driver behavior and road and environmental conditions can also cause a vehicle to roll over.

Vehicle Type
All types of vehicles can rollover. However, taller, narrower vehicles such as SUVs, pickups, and vans have higher centers of gravity, and thus are more susceptible to rollover if involved in a single-vehicle crash.

Speed
Fatal rollover crashes are speed-related more often than fatal non-rollover crashes. Some 40% of fatal rollover crashes involved excessive speeding . Additionally, nearly ¾ of fatal rollovers took place where the posted speed limit was 55 miles per hour or higher.


Alcohol
Nearly half of all fatal rollover crashes involve alcohol . Impairment can result from any blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above .00 . Even a small amount of alcohol will negatively affect your judgment, muscular coordination, and vision, making you more likely to lose control of your vehicle.

Location
Rural roads tend to be undivided and without barriers. They are thus more likely to be the scene of a fatal rollover. Almost ¾ of fatal rollovers occur in rural areas where the posted speed limit is typically 55 miles per hour or higher.

Routine Driving
NHTSA data also suggest that over 90% of the vehicles in fatal, single-vehicle rollover crashes were involved in routine driving maneuvers (going straight or negotiating a curve) at the time of the crash. This further suggests that driver behavior (distraction, inattentiveness, speeding, and impaired driving) plays a significant role in rollover crashes.

Single-vehicle Crashes
NHTSA data show that nearly 85% of all rollover-related fatalities are the result of single-vehicle crashes. This means that the majority of rollover crashes and fatalities do not involve any other vehicle besides the one that rolled over, further suggesting that driver behavior plays a significant role in rollover crashes.

Types

Rollovers occur in one of two ways: tripped or un-tripped.

Tripped Rollovers
NHTSA data show that 95% of single-vehicle rollovers are tripped . This happens when a vehicle leaves the roadway and slides sideways, digging its tires into soft soil or striking an object such as a curb or guardrail. The high tripping force applied to the tires in these situations can cause the vehicle to roll over.

See various types of tripped rollovers

Soft Soil

Guardrail

Steep Slope
(link for these three follows)

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/Rollover/pages/RolloCharTypes.htm

One of the best ways to avoid a rollover, therefore, is to stay on the road. Electronic Stability Control is a promising new technology that will help drivers stay on the road in emergency situations.

Un-tripped
Un-tripped rollovers are less common than tripped rollovers, occurring less than 5% of the time, and mostly to top-heavy vehicles. Instead of an object serving as a tripping mechanism, un-tripped rollovers usually occur during high-speed collision avoidance maneuvers.

See an Un-tripped rollover (use the link above)


The above are direct quotes form saferCar.gov - Rollover

If you can not comprehend why a Performance Driving is the most critical factor for a sober driver to avoid a rollover you may want to reread the above.

More facts follow..............

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Minimize Risk and Injury

There are many ways to minimize the risk of vehicle rollover, as well as reduce the risk of serious injury should one occur. Statistics prove that wearing a safety belt has the greatest effect on reducing the chance of fatality—occupants are 75% less likely to be killed in a rollover crash if they are wearing them.

Safety belt use has an even greater effect on reducing the deadliness of rollover crashes than on other crashes because so many victims of rollover crashes die as a result of being partially or completely thrown from the vehicle. Click on the links below to learn even more ways to protect yourself and others while on the road.

Avoid Panic-Like Steering

Know Proper Maneuvering

Use Caution on Rural Roads

Tire Pressure and Loading

...................
I know most of you understand the importance of car control and the benefits of a Performance Driving for the above. The intellectually challenged will not!

More Facts Follow........

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

The Newest Technologies

A number of new technologies, including Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Variable Ride-Height Suspension (VRHS) are becoming more widely available to help reduce the likelihood of single-vehicle crashes and, in the case of VRHS, the risk of rollover. Rollover air bag systems are also now available to protect occupants if a rollover does occur.

Each of the systems highlighted in this section employs different technologies to address rollover, stability, and occupant protection.

Electronic Stability Control

Available in many new cars, this technology helps drivers maintain control of their vehicle during extreme steering maneuvers by keeping the vehicle headed in the driver's intended direction, even when the vehicle nears or exceeds the limits of road traction.

When drivers attempt an extreme maneuver (for example, to avoid a crash or because a curve’s severity has been misjudged), they may experience unfamiliar vehicle handling characteristics as the vehicle nears the limits of road traction. The result is a loss of control. This loss usually results in either the rear of the vehicle "spinning out," or the front of the vehicle "plowing out." (See links below.)

A professional driver, with sufficient road traction, could maintain control in an extreme maneuver by using various techniques, such as countersteering (momentarily turning away from the intended direction). It would be unlikely, however, for an average driver to properly apply countersteering techniques in a panic situation to regain vehicle control.

Click on one of the links below to see the results.

Spinning out

Plowing out
(link for above follows)
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/Rollover/pages/NewTechESC.htm


How ESC Works

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) uses automatic braking of individual wheels to prevent the heading from changing too quickly (spinning out) or not quickly enough (plowing out). ESC cannot increase the available traction, but maximizes the possibility of keeping the vehicle under control and on the road during extreme maneuvers by using the driver’s natural reaction of steering in the intended direction.

ESC happens so quickly that drivers do not perceive the need for steering corrections. If drivers do brake because the curve is more or less sharp than anticipated, the system is still capable of generating uneven braking if necessary to correct the heading.

ESC systems exist under many trade names, including Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), and Vehicle Stability Enhancement (VSE).


Depending on conditions such as vehicle speed and terrain, Variable Ride-Height Suspension (VRHS) raises or lowers the ride height of the vehicle while it is in motion. Some VRHS systems operate automatically, while others require the driver to select the appropriate mode. VRHS systems can have a favorable effect on a vehicle's likelihood to roll over because they lower the height of the vehicle's center of gravity and improve its Static Stability Factor (SSF) rating for highway driving.



Rollover Air Bags

In addition to protecting drivers’ or passengers’ heads during a side-impact crash, some side-impact head air bags, or "curtains," can also protect occupants from injury and ejection during a rollover crash. This is important because ejection causes most injuries and fatalities in rollover crashes - most people who are killed are not wearing safety belts to hold them in place.
..................

These are the latest technology for rollovers

More Facts Follow.......

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

The following information can be found at the following link:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/

topic 01/18/2005 - - Traffic Safety Facts 2003 FARS/GES Annual Report (Final Edition) (PDF) (Available Information)

Traffic Safety Facts 2003

Table 37

Rollover Occurrance

Passenger car 4,134

Light Truck
Pickup 2,697
Utility 2,579
Van 694
Other 11

Large Truck 608

Bus 13

other/unknown 215

Total 10,971


From Table 32

Total noncollision Rollover fatal 4248 11.1 of all fatal accidents.

From Table 36 Vehicles Involven in Fatal Crashes by Body type


Passenger Cars 26,169(sub total from below)
Convertible 392
2 Door Sedan, Hardtop,Coupe 5,742
3 Door/2Door Hatchback 1,394
4 Door Sedan Hardtop 17,140
5 Door/4Door Hatchback 202
Station Wagon 860
Hatchback Doors unknown 25
Other Auto 41
Unknown Auto 343
Auto-Based Pickup 28
Auto-based Panel truck 2


Light Trucks 22,068(sub total)
Compact Utility 5,677
Large Utility 1,080
Utility Station Wagon 449
Utility unknown body type 13
Minivan 2,505
Large Van 1,102
Step Van 70
Other Type Van 6
Compact Pickup 3,667
Std. Pick-up 7,252
Pickup with camper 42
Convertible Pickup 2
Unknown Pickup style 62
Cab Chassis-Based light truck 98
unknown light truck 1
unknown light vehicle type 7
unknown truck 6

Large trucks 4,669

Motorcycles 3,751

Buses 289

Other 609

Of 58,512 vehicles involved in fatal crashes .7% (392/58,512) were convertibles.

Based on the number it seems that the convertible is a low priority for demanding additional safety features when the 4 door Sedan has 17,140 fatal crashes which represents 29.3%

 

[jrkermode]

Fred,

Where are you going with all this?

 

[Cris]

Okay, what is the percentage of vehicles on the road that are convertible? More or less than 7%? And how about mileage based (since convertibles tend to be fair weather vehicles)?

Your analysis does not work with me. 100% of all convertibles that rolled are convertibles (duh!). And some have effective rollover protection and some don't. The argument is why does the SRT, with its high power (and potential to leave the road as you so aptly state), fall into the minimal rollover protection category. And yet be named street and RACE technology! Aptly named I think not.

You can apply all the drivers school logic you want but the simple truth is that Vipers are more prone to off-road excursions than the average car. And they offer less rollover protection than average. That combination is not good whether they sell one or a million.

 

[cstegall]

Fred...

Very, very useful information. Something that makes sense and attaches some real world facts to it.
However, reading and comprehending what this means does not answer the question: "Why doesn't DC build some type of rollover protection into the car?"

Past facts are great. We need future protection.

Thanks for your efforts....Clark

 

[rbarta]

I just can't understand why they design in a roll bar if it is not functional. Something that has a purpose (safety) is being put on for bling factor and devoid of purpose. A lot of vehicles have a lot of bling, but not a Viper...it is supposed to be spartan and purposeful. The roll hoops are neither.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Chris it is clear you do not get it! Sorry nothing I can do about that!

Facts drive the Gov. which in turn drives car safety. Nothing is free. Want all the bells and whistles buy another car! The Viper is a Back to basics Sports Car.

Agree with the fake roll bar comment, makes no sense to me. Perhaps they are considered styling features, but that is a bit of a stretch.

The Viper is a fantastic car, respect it and it will keep you smiling! Disrespect it and get Snake Bit!

 

[cstegall]

...The Viper is a Back to basics Sports Car.

So Fred...back to basics means lack of concern for safety?

You're kidding...right? Those cars you drive in the driving schools...you driving vehicles that disregard safety so that they give you a "back to basics" feel?

Get real.

Clark

 

[jrkermode]

cstegall,

You're making this more black and white than it is.

Back to basics can be less safe without being reckless.

For example; straying off trail can get you lost in the woods. Ever year, folks get so lost they end up dead. However, cross country travel can be quite rewarding if you are prepared and keep your wits about you. A safety at all costs solution would be to line all the trails with impenetrable fences, ensuring nobody ever got lost (we'll call this stability control). The back to basics approach asks that folks be a little more responsible for their actions (we'll call this a Viper specific driving school).

 

[cstegall]

cstegall,...You're making this more black and white than it is.
Back to basics can be less safe without being reckless.

Call me Clark. Everybody else does.
When you say back-to-basics are you referring to the car...or the driver. Fred is referring to the car and bridging it to the driver. It is, unquestionably, a black and white issue and it should be extremely black and extremely white. In my case, I installed a rollbar strictly to make the car safe...just in case someone else that did not take a driving school decided to run a stop sign, exit an offramp and cut me off or just had one too many and decided that racing a Viper was a good idea. Redundant systems DO NOT keep the primary from failing...it just allows a process to continue if the primary does fail. Let's make the driver the primary...the rollover protection the redundant.

If you could talk to the driver you would realize that it is not a driving school(although he admits to needing one) but is the ROLLBAR that saved their lives this time.

I'll close by saying thanks to all that have input information here. Your thoughts, concerns and prayers for the injured are appreciated.

Clark

 

[GTS Bruce]

Roll over,tripping is for whimps.I'm holding out for at least a 720 endover. GTS Bruce

 

[Fast Freddy]

i have rolled two vehicles in my youth. a bmw and ford ranger truck. i did a gainer and two barrel rolls in the ford ranger truck as result of DUI and bad temper and way to much speed, etc. fortunately i had my seat belt on and crawled out through the blown out drivers side window after the wreck to survey the damage (i did not have one scratch on me - just some bits of broken glass in my hair to pick out). needless to say the truck was totalled. someday i will post pix. its funny but true as they say when you roll vehicles every thing seems to go into slow motion despite the fact that you are flipping thru the air at 75 mph. i was lucky that i was not injured. i pole vaulted my truck backwards off a dirt embankment up into the air at 75 mph. the truck did a gainer like piroet in the air when it hit the ground an proceeded to do 2 full barrel rolls. i literally flew through the air like well over 50 feet when the truck did the gainer. if this would of happened in a convertible car i would most definatley have broken my neck or worse been killed.

 

[cgmaster]

I know alot of people may disagree with me but I think they should have some kind of rating system for cars and trucks where an inexperienced drived can not drive a high performance vehicle. I think inexperience causes 90 percent of the wrecks I see. I think the rating system should implement a structure like the they do for Pilots or boat captains. I think they used to do something like this in England with bikes.

Again this is just my opinion now that I am 30. I am sure I would have disagreed when I was 15 and got a Corvette.

 

[jrkermode]

FF hit it on the nose. These statistics aren't about technology, they're about demographics.

A ridiculously high portion of fatal wrecks are 16-22 year olds (they're something like 10% of all drivers, 60% of all fatal accidents). Clarks rating solution, while I like it, won't help these kids because they even wreck the slow cars (FF's Ranger).

The kid effect is likely influencing the statistics on stability control as well.

When ABS first came out, it was only available in high-line cars; old people's cars. All the data said ABS was wonderful. Since then, ABS has migrated throughout the automotive foodchain and, surprise, ABS statistics aren't as good as they used to be. A similar thing happened when airbags were first introduced; again on high-line cars.

The experts offer lots of excuses to explain away the changes in the data, but it's not about technology, it's about demographics. That's why insurance companies give tiny discounts for technology and huge discounts for demographics.

Have these technologies made things safer? Absolutely. The problem is, they aren't kid-proof. The kids will be the first ones to turn off these switchable safety features, while simultaneously engaging in the most high risk activities (Hey, it's snowing, let's have a drifting contest at the WalMart!). I suspect there are many instances where kids so exceed the limits of the vehicle nothing short of the hand of God will save them.

Simply put, if you want to change those statistics Fred cites, get the kids out of the cars. Adding features to high-line cars is barking up the wrong tree.

 

[GTS Dean]

Well said Jim!

A dizzying proliferation of safety equipment and electronic handling gizmos makes cars more survivable in a bad accident. However, the gene pool doesn't get cleansed of idiocy by natural selection like it used to. The type of behavior that used to end in death, now proliferates through generations.

The government has been trying like mad to make a meaningful dent in annual traffic deaths. Look at the numbers - VMT goes through the roof, the # of vehicles and drivers steadily increases, but for years, the death toll has remained at roughly 41,000. Now they seem to think that crash data boxes are the answer...

:shakinghead:

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

GTS Dean,

Agree 100% but in spite of the huge vehicle safety improvements the Darwin Award http://www.darwinawards.com/ is still taking being handed out and cleansing the gene pool.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Well said Jim!

A dizzying proliferation of safety equipment and electronic handling gizmos makes cars more survivable in a bad accident. However, the gene pool doesn't get cleansed of idiocy by natural selection like it used to. The type of behavior that used to end in death, now proliferates through generations.

The government has been trying like mad to make a meaningful dent in annual traffic deaths. Look at the numbers - VMT goes through the roof, the # of vehicles and drivers steadily increases, but for years, the death toll has remained at roughly 41,000. Now they seem to think that crash data boxes are the answer...

:shakinghead:

I'm with Dean on this one, someday the gov will mandate cars like I saw in a movie once, when in a crash they instantaneously fill up with safety foam, completely encapsulating the occupent..... or maybe a different direction, I read a fiction article in Road and Track when I was in high school about "MSV's" (Massive Safety Vehicles). People with MSV's would cruise the countryside looking for "antiques" (I think it was an MGB in the article) to run of the road for sport.

If people want to pay for extra safety stuff, fine, let them, but don't mandate the technologies, specially all those that turn on the idiot lights! The big brother, privicy invading ones Dean eludes to above are really scary.

Want to know why there is no inflation in the Cost of Living index? A car still costs $6000 in the index, the government "removes" all the costs of improvements and imposed safety and environmental price inceases to arrive at teh "actual vehicel cost" before putting the price of a new car in the index.... airbags -2000, fuel injection, -2000, side impact steel, -1000.... power window and door locks -1000, A/C -2000 and on and on and on.... the end result, an $18,000 car goes into the index as a $6000 car, does not mattter that you can't go buy a car for $6000..... the gov only wants people to think there is no inflation.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Here is a Viper that rolled over in my City that the driver did not walk away. roll over

 

[HiYoSilver]

Are both the Windshield Headers and Sportbars giving way on these rollovers, like the photo above? Does anyone know?
If so we have a bigger problem.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Windshield will fold, sportbar will not. Called a sportbar and not a roll bar for legal reasons. The sportbar on the RT/GTS is actually strong enough to "be" a roll bar but it may not be tall enough to act as one for some drivers. SCCA rules require a roll bar to be a certain distance ABOVE the top of a drivers helmet for obvious reasons.

 

[Vipera Russelli]

SCCA rules require a roll bar to be a certain distance ABOVE the top of a drivers helmet for obvious reasons.

That would be two (2) inches.

http://www.teammiata.com/libs/PDF/SCCA-Roll_BAR_SPECS.pdf

 

[KenricGTS]

So the hoops on the SRT are just for looks. Are they not tied into anything like the frame? Seems like a waste not to at least make them usefull for a rollover. They don't have to call them roll hoops, just make them sturdy enough to help in a roll over.

 

[Jay Herbert]

So the hoops on the SRT are just for looks. Are they not tied into anything like the frame? Seems like a waste not to at least make them usefull for a rollover. They don't have to call them roll hoops, just make them sturdy enough to help in a roll over.

They are plenty sturdy and are tied to the frame but just may not be tall enough for all drivers.

 

[KenricGTS]

That makes me fill better.

 

[Cris]

They are plenty sturdy and are tied to the frame but just may not be tall enough for all drivers.

So why are they not adequate for the track? The RT/10 is okay as is for many tracks but the SRT is not.

Also, have you looked at a cross section of the aluminum roll hoops and the mounting method in coming up with the "plenty sturdy" comment?

 

[Jay Herbert]

They are plenty sturdy and are tied to the frame but just may not be tall enough for all drivers.

So why are they not adequate for the track? The RT/10 is okay as is for many tracks but the SRT is not.

Also, have you looked at a cross section of the aluminum roll hoops and the mounting method in coming up with the "plenty sturdy" comment?

Go to the link above that goes to the SCCA rool bar specs for your answer. FYI, you sad the magic words (OK for "MANY tracks), but not all allow the RT on the track either because of the sportbar height.

Really, nothing to argue about, if folks want to race an SRT, an approved roll bar should be installed. Not really sure why this is an issue, all the "Real" racing RT's and GTS's I've ever seen have them added, Autoform sells bunches of them, they are added to the comp coupes, and when the GTS comes out, I'm sure Autoform will design one for it too.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Jay your logic is 100% on target!

And a note regarding the RT is has to have a hard top or roll bar for Viper Days and other open track events. So the "Cry" for a racing roll bar in a street car is interesting. Should the SRT's also have fire protection?

 

[Cris]

Fred, this has been said many times. Why put decorative roll hoops on a sports car. Either make them functional or leave them off.That does not mean make them certified for track use. It only means make them out of a material and design that provides a reasonable amount of rollover protection. As has been stated many times as well the competition generally provides this level of protection. But NONE provide a decorative piece of ###$#$#@ and try to pass it off as Street and RACING Technology!

The RT/10 did just that. Offered a reasonable amount of rollover protection. If you ever saw one that had rolled you would agree that it was functional, even though it did not meet SCCA or other sanctioned racing requirements. If the SRT was a steel bar and attached more firmly it would not be a topic here.

I could go on and on as the R in SRT is silent.