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Video clip: $54 Million Verdict Against Chrysler

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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.
 
 

2006 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:
5 stars

= up to a 10% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
4 stars

= 10% to 20% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
3 stars

= 21% to 30% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
2 stars

= 31% to 40% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash
1 stars

= greater than 40% chance of rollover during single vehicle crash


2006 Sport Utility Vehicles
Rollover Resistance Test Scores

Vehicle Rollover Rating

2 wheel drive

4 wheel drive

2006 Acura MDX 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

4 stars

2006 BMW X3 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 BMW X5 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Buick Rainier 4-DR

3

4 stars

2006 Buick Rendezvous 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Cadillac Escalade 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Cadillac Escalade ESV 4-DR w/SAB

    

3 stars

2006 Cadillac Escalade EXT w/SAB

    

3 stars

2006 Cadillac SRX 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Chevrolet Avalanche w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Chevrolet Equinox 4-DR

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Chevrolet HHR 4-DR

4 stars

     

2006 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Chevrolet Tahoe 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 Chrysler Pacifica 4-DR w/SAB

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Dodge Durango 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 Ford Escape 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Ford Escape Hybrid 4-DR

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Ford Expedition 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 Ford Explorer 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Ford Freestyle 5-DR

4 stars

4 stars

2006 GMC Envoy 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 GMC Envoy XL 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 GMC Yukon 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 GMC Yukon XL 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Honda CR-V w/SAB

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Honda Element 4-DR

Not rated

     

2006 Honda Pilot 4-DR w/SAB

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Hummer H2 4-DR

Not rated

     

2006 Hummer H3 4-DR

    

3 stars

2006 Hyundai Santa Fe 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Hyundai Tucson 4-DR w/SAB

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Infiniti FX35/45 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Infiniti QX56 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Isuzu Ascender 5 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

4 stars

2006 Isuzu Ascender 7 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 Jeep Commander 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

3 stars

2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4-DR

3 stars

4 stars

2006 Jeep Liberty 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Jeep Wrangler 2-DR

Not rated

4 stars

2006 Kia Sorento 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Kia Sportage 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Land Rover LR3 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Land Rover Range Rover 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Land Rover Range Rover Sport 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Lexus GX470 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Lexus LX470 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Lexus RX330 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Lexus RX400h 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Lincoln Navigator 4 DR w/SAB

    

4 stars

2006 Mazda Tribute 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Mercedes-Benz ML-Class 4-DR

    

4 stars

2006 Mercedes-Benz R-Class 4-DR

Not rated

     

2006 Mercury Mariner 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4-DR

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Mercury Mountaineer 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Mitsubishi Endeavor 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Mitsubishi Montero 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Mitsubishi Outlander 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Nissan Armada 4-DR w/SAB

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Nissan Murano 4-DR w/SAB

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Nissan Pathfinder 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Nissan Xterra 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Pontiac Torrent 4-DR

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Porsche Cayenne 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Saab 9-7X 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

     

2006 Saturn VUE 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Subaru Outback 4-DR w/SAB

    

Not rated

2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca 4-DR w/SAB

    

4 stars

2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara 4-DR w/SAB

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara XL7 4-DR

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Toyota 4Runner 4-DR

3 stars

3 stars

2006 Toyota Highlander 4-DR

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4-DR

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Toyota Landcruiser 4-DR

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Toyota RAV4 4-DR

4 stars

4 stars

2006 Toyota Sequoia 4-DR

Not rated

     

2006 Volkswagen Touareg 4-DR w/SAB

Not rated

Not rated

2006 Volvo XC90 4-DR w/SAB

    

4 stars
 
 
About Lieff Cabraser

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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