While rollover accidents do not occur as frequently as other types of crashes, when they do occur, rollovers often result serious injury or death.  Rollover vehicle accidents account for more than 10,000 deaths in the United States in a given year, more than side and rear crashes combined.  Rollovers also resulted in thousands of serious injuries.  Most of these rollovers and the related injuries may be prevented by drivers and manufacturers of cars, trucks, vans and SUVs.  

Rollover crash accidents are complex events, influenced by the design of the vehicle involved and by driver and road characteristics.  All vehicles can roll over and all types of vehicles roll over given certain conditions.  SUVs have the highest number of rollovers per 100 crashes, but due to the higher numbers of passenger cars on the road, nearly half of all rollovers which occur involve passenger cars. 

In the single-vehicle crash, more than 90% of rollovers occur after a driver runs off of the road.  Thus, in the single-vehicle crash, vehicles are most likely to roll over off of the pavement after the driver lost control of the vehicle.  After the vehicle slides off of the pavement, a ditch, soft soil, curb or other so-called tripping mechanism usually initiates the rollover.  Since the manufacturers of cars, trucks, vans and SUVs know this, they must develop and engineer vehicles to be rollover resistant and more stable to prevent roll. 

Top heavy cars, trucks, vans and SUVs are likely to rollover and are inherently unstable.  This is confirmed by real-life crash statistics involving top heavy cars, trucks, vans and SUVs, which are involved in the most rollovers.  In other words, taller, narrower vehicles, such as the SUVs, are more likely than lower, wider vehicles, such as passenger cars, to trip and roll over once they leave the roadway.

One effort at reducing the likelihood of a rollover is electronic stability controls, which are designed to assist drivers in maintaining control of their vehicles.  Electronic stability controls sense when a vehicle is starting to spin out or fishtail, oversteer, or plow out, understeer, and turn the vehicle to the appropriate heading by automatically applying the brake at one or more wheels.  Some systems automatically slow the vehicle with brake and throttle intervention. 

To minimize the risk of a rollover crash and serious injury, drivers should: 1) wear seat belts, which dramatically reduce the risk of being killed or seriously injured; 2) avoid conditions that may lead to loss of control such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs; 3) be particularly cautious on curved roads and roads with soft shoulders; 4) avoid overcorrecting; 5) maintain tires properly; and 6) consult their owner's manual to determine maximum safe loads and proper load distribution since loading may increase the likelihood of rolling over, see Large Passenger Vans (15-passenger).

Manufacturers, on the other hand, must also to take responsibility for rollovers involving their cars, trucks, vans and SUVs.  Not only must manufacturers take significant steps to minimize the risk of a rollover crash occurring in the first instance, but vehicle manufacturers must also minimize the risk of risk of injury to occupants involved in a rollover.  This latter concept on occupant protection is come to be known as crashworthiness.

Thus, to take responsibility manufacturers have a duty to: 1) engineer their vehicles so as to be crashworthy and minimize potential for serious injury to occupants; 2) make cars, trucks, vans and SUVs less top heavy; 3) design control and stability systems that properly react to driver steering and braking and respond to improper movement of the vehicle so as to anticipate and alleviate rolling; and 4) appropriately warn consumers of hazards and risk associated with rollover propensity, including particular models and vehicles, tire inflation, vehicle loading, etc.