Vehicle Rollover Statistics
- In 2004, 33 percent of passenger vehicle occupant fatalities occurred in vehicles that rolled over (10,553 rollover fatalities out of 31,693 total fatalities in the U.S.). The same year, 2.7 percent of occupants of passenger vehicles that rolled over were fatally injured, compared to 0.2 percent of occupants killed who were in passenger vehicles that crashed, but that did not roll over.
- A total of 275,637 vehicles rolled over in 2004, representing 123 rollovers per 100,000 registered vehicles.
- A recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis found that, in general, sport utility vehicles are more likely to roll over in a crash than pickup trucks, which in turn are more likely to roll over than vans or passenger cars. While pickup trucks were more likely to roll over than passenger cars, occupants of a pickup were less likely to sustain fatal injuries than occupants of a passenger car, given a single vehicle rollover.
- NHTSA also identified several other factors which increased a vehicle’s chance of rolling over, including the age of the vehicle, age of the driver, number of vehicle occupants, and speed at the time of the crash. High vehicle occupancy both increased a vehicle’s probability of rollover and decreased the probability of fatal injuries among the occupants. Drivers aged 16 to 20 had the highest rate of vehicle rollover per 100,000 licensed drivers; the rate decreased with increasing age. Alcohol involvement was another factor which increased the probability of a rollover.
- In addition to the highest frequency of rollovers, SUVs had the highest incidence of total ejection of occupants from the vehicle. In the event of a rollover, unrestrained occupants had more severe injuries and were totally ejected from their vehicle more frequently than restrained occupants. Overall, approximately 3.9 percent of occupants of vehicles which rolled over were completely ejected from the vehicle. This is 2.5 times as high as the occupant ejection rate of vehicles that crashed but did not roll over.
- Fatality rates for occupants of a rolled vehicle were higher for older occupants, and higher for males than for females. Occupants of rolled vehicles who weighed more and had a higher Body Mass Index appeared to receive fewer benefits from seat belts.
Source:
An Analysis of Motor Vehicle Rollover Crashes and Injury Outcomes
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810741.PDF
