Rollover Accident Reconstruction Expert Witness

Crash Data Services, LLC

Providing quality traffic accident
investigation and reconstruction

Rollover crashes are one of the most
dangerous traffic accidents to be involved in.
63% of rollover crashes involve some type of
injury to an occupant, while 18% of rollover
accidents involve a fatality.

And while any person can be involved in a
rollover accident, as a group, drivers between
the ages 16-24 are significantly more likely to
roll over than drivers over age 24.

Accident reconstruction experts have shown
that many traffic crashes involving a rollover
require some type of tripping mechanism to
induce a vehicle into a roll. A tripping
mechanism can be a collision with another
motor vehicle, a steep downward slope on
soft earth, or a curb.

That said, a tripping mechanism is not always
required to cause a rollover accident.
Instead, inappropriate steering inputs, such
as overcorrection, can also cause a vehicle
to roll.

Although the cause of a rollover can vary,
almost all rollover crashes involve a loss of
control with about 75 % of those control loss
cases occurring on icy, wet, or snowy roads.

Due to the high propensity for injury during a
rollover crash, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) now offers a
rollover rating in addition to their 5-star crash
evaluation system.

In addition, many auto manufacturers are now
installing rollover sensors (ROS) to aid in the
protection of occupants through side and
head curtain airbag deployment. In some
cases, our accident reconstruction experts
can download and interpret the crash data
from a ROS sensor when investigating the
cause of a rollover crash.

For a vehicle to overturn without tripping,
the lateral acceleration (a) in Gs must
exceed the value of one half the track width
of the vehicle (w) divided by the center of
gravity height of the vehicle (h).

SUVs are more than 2 1/2 times more likely to rollover in a collision than non-SUV vehicles . - NHTSA

The above illustration displays a rollover
collision wherein the depicted vehicle side
slips into a low lying curb. The curb acts as
a tripping mechanism, causing the top of the
vehicle to roll over. Accurate reconstruction
of vehicle roll mechanics is crucial in
understanding how a vehicle was damaged
and the occupants were injured.

Rollover
Traffic Accident Reconstruction Expert