ARLINGTON, Va., Mar 12, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A study released Wednesday
says the strength of a vehicle's roof is strongly correlated to injury and death
rates in rollover crashes.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said it conducted roof strength tests
then matched the results against accident reports.
"The main finding is that injury risk went down as roof strength increased," the
report said.
In step with this finding, the report said, "injury rates vary considerably
among vehicles."
The report says 33 percent of all occupant deaths in crashes occurs during a
rollover crash.
A quarter of the deaths occurring in car and minivan crashes involved rollovers,
while 59 percent of the deaths in SUV crashes were associated with rollovers,
the report said.
But, how the injuries or deaths occur is still a question, the study said.
Passengers might slam against the roof or the roof might come down to crush
them.
The Institute recommended a change in the standard strength-to-weight of car
ratio be changed from 1.5 to 2.5, noting that if all SUV roofs matched the
strongest tested, "about 212 of the 668 deaths that occurred in these SUVs in
2006 would have been prevented."
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2008 by United Press International