THE URBAN ROLLOVER: CHARACTERISTICS, INJURIES, SEAT-BELTS AND EJECTION. IN: OCCUPANT AND VEHICLE RESPONSES IN ROLLOVERS

This chapter, from a comprehensive textbook on occupant and vehicle responses in rollovers, presents an analysis of rollover crash characteristics and the injury consequences for occupants. The authors analyzed 158 rollover cases involving 282 occupants. Results show that generally, the urban rollover is not a dramatic crash. Injury severity was found to be low to both restrained and unrestrained occupants, but ejected persons were more likely to be fatally injured than non-ejected persons. Roof crush was not found to be responsible for injury causation; therefore, no recommendations for changes in current roof strength are made. The use of seat belts is advised, but seat belts themselves are not necessarily effective in the reduction of minor injuries and indeed, injuries may be sustained through their use. The authors caution that the sample used may under-represent high velocity crashes as the study was conducted in an urban environment, a view supported by the fact that only 20% of the vehicles rolled more than one revolution.