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INJURY LAW

Read a guide to the legal rights of the injured.

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Lieff Cabraser represents people injured in truck, car, SUV and other vehicle accidents. Click here to submit your case.

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Lieff Cabraser attorneys Robert J. Nelson and Scott Nealey discuss a wrongful death lawsuit based on a transmission defect in millions of Chrysler vehicles.

2005 NHTSA SUV Rollover Safety Ratings

SUVs and pickup trucks have higher fatality rates for their occupants than passenger cars, and substantially higher death rates than minivans.

In 2002, 10,666 people were killed in rollover crashes, up five percent from 2001. Sixty-one percent of all persons killed in sport utility vehicles (SUV) crashes and 45 percent of persons killed in pickup truck accidents were the result of rollover crashes. By comparison, only 22 percent of passenger car fatalities in 2002 were the result of a rollover crash.

Why Are SUVs At Risk for Rollover?

The reason SUVs are more likely to rollover in a collision, sudden movement or accident is that, compared to most cars and station wagons, SUVs have a higher center of gravity.

How Does NHTSA Test the Rollover Likelihood of SUVs?

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) developed a new test for rating the likelihood SUVs would roll over in crashes. The dynamic test uses the so-called "fishhook" maneuver -- a series of abrupt turns at varying speeds -- to match what happens when drivers drift off the road and overcompensate.

Previously, the agency used a mathematical calculation, factoring in a vehicle's specifications, to gauge rollover risk. But Congress, in 2000, ordered regulators to develop track tests after nearly 300 rollover deaths in Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires in the late 1990s.

In the new tests, vehicles are driven through as many as ten fishhook maneuvers. The tests are conducted at speeds ranging from 35 to 50 miles per hour. Vehicles are outfitted with equipment to prevent an actual rollover and testing is halted as soon as a vehicle tips on two wheels.

Consumer groups have been sharply critical of the government's new testing because it has inflated grades for some vehicles. For example, the Toyota Tacoma tipped up on two wheels, yet still received three of five stars on the test. "The result defies common sense and it gives a misleading impression to the consumer," said R. David Pottle of the Consumers Union in a Wall Street Journal report.

In response, NHTSA also is providing a number which represents the probability, or percentage chance, that a vehicle will roll over in a crash similar to NHTSA's real test.

NHTSA uses the following star system to evaluate the rollover rates for an SUV:

	= up to a 10% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
	= 10% to 20% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
	= 21% to 30% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
	= 31% to 40% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
	= greater than 40% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash

2005 Sport Utility Vehicles
Rollover Resistance Test Scores

Vehicle	Rollover Rating	Rollover Chance	Driving Test Result
Acura MDX 4-DR. w/SAB		0.15	No-tip
Buick Rainier 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
Buick Rainier 4-DR. Front Wheel Drive		0.20	No-tip
Cadillac Escalade 4-DR. w/SAB;w/updated ESC Four Wheel Drive		0.22	No-tip
Cadillac Escalade 4-DR. w/SAB;w/updated ESC Rear Wheel Drive		0.24	No-tip
Cadillac Escalade ESV 4-DR. w/SAB; w/updated ESC		0.21	No-tip
Cadillac Escalade EXT w/SAB; w/updated ESC		0.21	No-tip
Chevrolet Avalanche w/SAB; w/updated ESC Four Wheel Drive		0.21	No-tip
Chevrolet Avalanche w/SAB; w/updated ESC Rear Wheel Drive		0.25	No-tip
Chevrolet Equinox 4-DR. Four-Wheel Drive		0.18	Tip
Chevrolet Equinox 4-DR.		0.19	Tip
Chevrolet Suburban 1500 4-DR. w/updated ESC Four Wheel Drive		0.21	No-tip
Chevrolet Suburban 1500 4-DR. w/updated ESC Rear Wheel Drive		0.23	No-tip
Chevrolet Tahoe 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.26	Tip
Chevrolet Tahoe 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.28	Tip
Chevrolet Tahoe 4-DR. w/ESC Four Wheel Drive		0.22	No-tip
Chevrolet Tahoe 4-DR. w/ESC Rear Wheel Drive		0.24	No-tip
Chevrolet Trailblazer 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
Chevrolet Trailblazer 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.20	No-tip
Chrysler Pacifica 4-DR w/SAB All-Wheel Drive		0.13	No-tip
Chrysler Pacifica 4-DR w/SAB Front Wheel Drive		0.14	No-tip
Dodge Durango 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
Dodge Durango 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.21	No-tip
Ford Escape 4-DR. ( Early Release) Four Wheel Drive		0.20	Tip
Ford Escape 4-DR. ( Early Release) Front Wheel Drive		0.23	Tip
Ford Explorer 4-DR.		0.24	No-tip
Ford Explorer Sport Trac Four Wheel Drive		0.27	No-tip
Ford Explorer Sport Trac Rear Wheel Drive		0.34	Tip
Ford Freestyle 5-DR All-Wheel Drive		0.13	No-tip
Ford Freestyle 5-DR Front Wheel Drive		0.14	No-tip
GMC Envoy 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
GMC Envoy 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.20	No-tip
GMC Yukon 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.26	Tip
GMC Yukon 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.28	Tip
GMC Yukon 4-DR. w/ESC Four Wheel Drive		0.22	No-tip
GMC Yukon 4-DR. w/ESC Rear Wheel Drive		0.24	No-tip
GMC Yukon XL 4-DR. w/updated ESC Four Wheel Drive		0.21	No-tip
GMC Yukon XL 4-DR. w/updated ESC Rear Wheel Drive		0.23	No-tip
Honda CR-V w/SAB Front Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
Honda CR-V w/SAB Four Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
Honda Pilot 4-DR. w/SAB		0.15	No-tip
Hyundai Santa Fe 4-DR w/SAB Four Wheel Drive		0.20	Tip
Hyundai Santa Fe 4-DR w/SAB Front Wheel Drive		0.22	Tip
Isuzu Ascender 5 4-DR w/SAB Four Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
Isuzu Ascender 5 4-DR w/SAB Rear Wheel Drive		0.20	No-tip
Jeep Grand Cherokee 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.19	No-tip
Jeep Grand Cherokee 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.20	No-tip
Jeep Liberty 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.21	No-tip
Jeep Liberty 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.24	No-tip
Jeep Wrangler 2-DR.		0.19	No-tip
Lincoln Navigator 4 DR. w/SAB		0.19	No-tip
Mazda Tribute (Early Release) 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.20	Tip
Mazda Tribute (Early Release) 4-DR. Front Wheel Drive		0.23	Tip
Mercury Mariner 4-DR Four Wheel Drive		0.20	Tip
Mercury Mariner 4-DR Front Wheel Drive		0.23	Tip
Mercury Mountaineer 4-DR.		0.24	No-tip
Nissan Murano 4-DR w/SAB All-Wheel Drive		0.15	No-tip
Nissan Murano 4-DR w/SAB Front Wheel Drive		0.15	No-tip
Nissan Pathfinder 4-DR Four Wheel Drive		0.22	No-tip
Nissan Pathfinder 4-DR Rear Wheel Drive		0.23	No-tip
Saturn VUE 4-DR. All-Wheel Drive		0.20	Tip-up
Saturn VUE 4-DR. Front Wheel Drive		0.22	Tip-up
Subaru Outback 4-DR w/SAB		0.15	No-tip
Toyota 4Runner 4-DR. Four Wheel Drive		0.20	No-tip
Toyota 4Runner 4-DR. Rear Wheel Drive		0.21	No-tip
Toyota Highlander 4-DR. Four-Wheel Drive		0.17	No-tip
Toyota Highlander 4-DR. Front Wheel Drive		0.17	No-tip
Volvo XC90 4-DR. w/SAB		0.17	No-tip

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is a national law firm of over 50 lawyers with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. Our attorneys are recognized for the successful prosecution of lawsuits involving deaths, personal injuries and property damage due to defective products, including dangerous and defective vehicles.

In 2007, in Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler, Lieff Cabraser attorneys, with local co-counsel, obtained the fourth-largest verdict in California for the year. At trial, plaintiffs showed that a defective transmission was responsible for making a Dodge Dakota pickup shift into reverse and run over Richard Mraz.

Currently, we are prosecuting personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits involving cars, vans, pickup trucks, SUVs, the Yamaha Rhino atv and other vehicles. To learn more about the firm, click here.

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