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Tragic rollover accident on I-35 in San Antonio

By Beth Janicek

Early Sunday morning, a tragic single-vehicle rollover accident on the Northeast side of San Antonio, killed Robert Trevino, 47. Trevino reportedly lost control of a blue Ford Ranger while driving south on Interstate 35 in a construction zone. Police reported that he swerved across three lanes, struck a guard rail and was ejected.

This terrible accident brings up two issues regarding vehicle safety. The first being that SUV's and pick up trucks are more likely to roll over in an accident. In fact, a study issued in 2005 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that the Ford Ranger made between 1999 and 2002 had the fifth highest rate of driver death of the small two-wheel drive pickup tricks in the study.

The other potential problem is the frequency of the roof crushing in rollover accidents. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, nearly 10,000 people a year are killed in rollover accidents. Stronger roofs crush less when they roll, reducing the risk of injury from the roof, and they also can prevent people from being ejected through windows, windshields or doors that have broken or opened because the roof deformed.

Vehicles rated 'good' in the study based on Institute research, had roofs that are more than twice as strong as the minimum required under the current federal safety standard. Institute senior vice president David Zuby said,

"As a group, small pickups aren't performing as well as small cars or small SUVs in all of the Institute's safety tests. None of the ones we tested is a top-notch performer across the board. In fact, no small pickup earns our Top Safety Pick award."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

Full post as published by San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer on March 29, 2010 (boomark / email).