Sport Utility Vehicle Safety Issues

Rollin’ on the Driver… Or why “SUV” doesn’t stand for “Safe Utility Vehicle”

A Guttlaw Report^TM

Sport Utility Vehicles are SO BIG that we think that they’ve got to be safe. But the truth is that these vehicles often put both driver and passenger at greater risk than they would be in a normal vehicle, and this is also true for some of the small high-roofed conversion vans.

Sport Utility Vehicles may have a lot of utility (unless you are looking at things from an energy conservation perspective) but they require a lot more care in handling than meets the eye. They often have a higher center of gravity and therefore do not react like cars on sharp curves. A speed that might be perfectly safe in a normal passenger vehicle may cause a Sport Utility Vehicle to roll when going around a sharp curve.

Sport Utility Vehicles have also had a greater problem with tire blowouts and faulty tires, because their weight magnifies any problems the tires may have.

Vans like those used by airport hotels may have similar defects, yet in spite of the need for special training, most hotels do not offer special training to their drivers.

According to the National Highway Transport Safety Administration, vans which have more than ten people inside are more than three times likelier to flip over than vans which do not.

If you have been a driver or a passenger of a Sport Utility Vehicle or van which rolled over, you may have a claim against the manufacturer for improper design or selling an unreasonably dangerous vehicle. This claim may even apply in a one vehicle accident or a so-called “T-bone collision” in which your van is struck in the side by another car and because of a van’s high center of gravity, it rolls down an embankment causing much more serious injury than the accident itself would have.

At Rubin Guttman & Associates, L.P.A., we have access to the professionals necessary to prove whether the accident was the fault of the driver or of a van or SUV design defect.

Proving your case is the job of an experienced law firm like Rubin Guttman & Associates, L.P.A. We have been representing injured people hurt by medical malpractice or serious accidents for 46 years and would welcome the opportunity to have you consult with us. (For a free consultation and review of your case, please feel free to call us at (216) 696-4006).