Rollover accidents comprise only 3% of all vehicle accidents in the U.S. but most of these involve SUVs. There are no strict laws that prohibit the use of these types of vehicles and their inherent features and design do not offer a high level of security to its passengers, and so drivers should be extra careful when driving SUVs.
SUVs (sport utility vehicle) often hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. They have a higher than average center of gravity, making them inherently more unstable than the usual family automobile and have a tendency to roll over when certain circumstances occur.
Last March, a couple from Brooklyn, New York miraculously managed to survive a terrible rollover in their SUV when it hit a guardrail on Belt Parkway. The vehicle had hit a patch of ice on the road and slithered out of control. As it hit the guardrail, it flipped over and then burst into flames. The couple luckily managed to get out unscathed.
The accident happened very early in the morning, at around 2:29am, near the Verrazano Bridge. Firefighters who were called to the scene of the accident were dumbfounded when they saw that the two occupants had survived the inferno.
The cause of this particular accident was a little unusual in that it was caused by a combination of environmental conditions and the particular characteristics of the type of vehicle that the SUV is.
SUVs can be dangerous vehicles to have an accident in because their roof and windows are not as strong as safety organizations recommend. In a rollover, a strong roof gives the occupants a greater chance of survival than one that collapses on impact. Similarly, window design affects the types of injuries that are associated with rollover accidents. SUV windows tend to break easily when the vehicle rolls over allowing the occupants to fall out.
SUV rollovers make up a high percentage of the total number of rollover accidents, but this type of accident is not particularly common overall. Only 3% of all vehicle accidents on U.S. highways are reported to be rollover accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
There are no Federal regulations prohibiting the use of SUVs, but safety concerns over the years have led to improvements in design. Unfortunately, there are still many older SUV models that are being driven around, and some of these have led to tragic consequences. With legislation making the driver of a SUV responsible for their own safety, the passengers in an SUV have to rely on that driver being particularly careful when they drive.
If you have been injured in an SUV or by a SUV which has been driven negligently, you need to contact a dedicated and experienced New York SUV rollover attorney to help decide wherever a claim is viable. Silbowitz, Garafola, Silbowitz, Schatz & Frederick is a dedicated and highly professional team of New York personal injury attorneys available to deal with all types of vehicle accidents. Contact the law firm today at 800 395 8343.
