PrimeTime: Technology to Prevent SUV Rollovers

Dec. 28, 2000 -- It’s no secret that sport utility vehicles are more likely than regular cars to flip over.

Studies show SUVs are nearly four times more likely to roll over than regular cars, and according to professional accident investigator Rusty Haight, rollovers can be very deadly.

“In a rollover, there are so many ways to die. Ejections, getting run over by the vehicle when it’s rolling, hitting the pavement,” he says. “Inside the car people hitting each other, people being on the roof when the roof hits …”

While nearly 2,000 people die in SUV rollovers each year, a technology that may be able to prevent many such rollovers has existed for several years. But with SUVs the fastest growing segment of the new car market in America, why aren’t all manufacturers installing the anti-rollover system?

Electronic Stability Systems

SUVs are more likely to roll because they have a higher center of gravity: Many are taller than a regular sedan, but not much wider at the wheel base. So a sudden maneuver that wouldn’t be a problem in a car can flip over a top-heavy SUV.

But a computer inside the vehicle, known as an electronic or enhanced stability system, can sense warning signs of a rollover and make rapid adjustments to the brakes and engine speed to help the driver keep control of the vehicle and possibly prevent the vehicle from rolling over. For example, the computer can sense when one wheel is spinning faster than the others, when the vehicle is slipping sideways or when it is beginning to tilt.

“One of the things the electronic stability packages do is control circumstances when you’re going around a curve too fast, when your rear end of the vehicle is starting to slide out,” explains Brian O’Neill of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Experts agree the technology works. It is used widely in Europe.

Luxury Option or Safety Essential?

But in the United States, electronic stability systems are only available with a few luxury-model SUVs, such as Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Cadillac and a few top-of-the-line Toyotas.

More affordable models do not offer the electronic stability system. Even though manufacturers say it adds just $600 to $1,000 to the sticker price, it’s not an option on many lower-end SUVs.

“Putting this as an option only on the high-end models of an SUV discounts the value of the life of someone who drives a basic model,” says David Pittle of the Consumer’s Union. “People who drive the basic model deserve the same safety protection as someone driving a high-end model …. This is not like picking leather seats or a high-end stereo. This is a critical safety device. It should be on all SUVs.”

Major automakers say that over the next several years more SUVs are likely to come equipped with anti-rollover systems. Indeed, Ford has announced that it is adding the system to the 2002 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer; the company also plans to install the system in all of its sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks over the next several years.

And a Daimler-Chrysler representative says he expects that manufacturer to install an anti-rollover package in its Jeep SUVs, but it takes time to engineer it to work in each model truck.