Interpreting Ratings

A vehicle's rollover resistance rating is an estimate of its risk of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash, not a prediction of the likelihood of a crash. As the chart below indicates, the lowest-rated vehicles (1-Star) are at least four times more likely to roll = over than the highest-rated vehicles (5-Stars) when involved in a single-vehicle crash.

NHTSA uses the following star system to eval= uate the rollover rates for a SUV:

	Has a risk of rollover of less than 10%
	Has a risk of rollover between 10% and 20%
	Has a risk of rollover between 20% and 30%
	Has a risk of rollover between 30% and 40%
	Has a risk of rollover greater than 40%

NHTSA's rollover ratings reflect the real-world rollover experience of vehicles involved in over 86,000 single-vehicle crashes.=

Source: = National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Seat Belt Failures & Unlatching During Rollover Accidents

In rollover accidents seatbelts can unlatch = or open during the rollover, allowing the occupants to be tossed around in the vehicle without any protection, ejected out of the vehicle and exposing them serious head injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis and death. Seatbelts= are designed to keep the occupant belted and allow the occupant to ride down the energy of a crash or rollover in a semi-controlled environment. Serous inju= ries or death can result from:

Seat belt buckles that i= nertially unlatch during a rollover accident
Shoulder belts that allows too much slack (wi= ndow shade seat belt design)
Automatic or door mounted seatbelts that can cause serious injuries and death if a door opens during a rollover, overturn or collision
Shoulder belt retractors that skip or fail to hold under load
Shoulder only belt strangulations (clothes li= ne effect) and neck and spinal injuries
Lap only seat belts in rear seat and center seating positions of many vehicles
GEN 3 Seat belt buckles / Chrysler Generation= 3 / inadvertent or unintentional unlatching or releasing during rollovers =

Rollover & Defective Seatbelts Don't Mix

During a SUV rollover, truck or van rollover, the vehicle and its occupants are subjected to potentially deadly forces. This is why a vehicle must be crashworthy, in order to protect the occupants during a crash. When a car, truck or SUV that is designed to be crashworthy , the design helps to minim= ize the destructive effect of a rollover / accident by distributing the deceleration energy over as longer a period of time, over as large a surface area as possible and to parts of the body that are more capable of withstan= ding such forces. A rollover crashworthiness case typically involves the failure= to one or more components to meet these basic design objectives, such as the seatbelts, the seatback, the interior padding, the roof, the door locks / latches and the structural design of the vehicle itself. In a typical rollo= ver a properly designed and working seat belt safety restraint system is a must= for survival. Seatbelts are designed to perform a central role in occupant protection. Properly designed seat belts should restrain the driver and passengers by preventing ejection and minimizing their violent movement wit= hin the vehicle during a rollover or crash.

Rollover & Seat Belt Failure Lawsuit

Typical lawsuit allegation= against the manufacturer is that the vehicle was unstable and prone to roll over in that it had a high center of gravity and narrow wheelbase. Plaintiffs have = also alleged defective window glazing in that the use of laminated glass would h= ave prevented occupants from being ejected. Plaintiffs typically assert that if= he/she had remained in the vehicle, he/she would have sustained only moderate injuries. Plaintiffs frequently allege defective design of the vehicle's occupant restraint and retention systems in that the belt length, anchorage locations, and resulting belt slack compromised the effectiveness of the lap belt system. Plaintiffs also allege that the use of a retractor would have minimized occupant excursion.

= If you or a member of your family has been involved in a SUV rollover accident, van rollover, truck rollover, over turn or other collision in which seatbelt fa= iled or the seatbelt buckles failed to hold or restrain on impact or during a rollover and the occupants were ejected, seriously injured or killed, then = contact us now.

AVERY LAW FIRM

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