What causes SUV rollovers?
Rollovers are usually induced by emergency avoidance maneuvers instituted by the driver in response to an unexpected but foreseeable event. For instance a driver’s attempt to avoid an object or person in the roadway or a driver’s reaction to another vehicle’s erratic movement will often put into the play the forces which result in a rollover. A rollover may also be the result of the sudden failure of a tire. The forces exerted on the vehicle by the tire tread coming off cause the vehicle to veer unexpectedly requiring driver inputs to avoid entering another lane or going off the shoulder. The combination of these forces with an inherently unstable vehicle is a recipe for disaster. The causes of SUV rollovers have been well understood by engineers for many years. SUVs and some pickups are more likely to rollover following a tire failure, collision or during an emergency avoidance maneuver than a car because SUVs have a higher center of gravity. The very thing that makes SUV drivers feel
