Not by the looks of this video: CNN Video SUV Flips Over

I counted that the SUV flipped over at least 7-8 times. It looks like the SUV Driver turned too much to avoid the car, and then turned too much to try and get back on the road. If the SUV had been a car, i'm sure the rollover wouldn't have happened.

 

With the increase in the price of gas, they aren't being driven as much. As driveway art, they are pretty safe.

Bob Wilson

 

To flipover:

• Make a sudden turn
• Make a sudden turn in the other direction
• You just rolled over

I can't prove it on a scientific or legal sense, but a common driving posture that encourages the overcompensation that can lead to a flipover is this...


Some time ago, I did the J-turn and spun out at 60mph on the freeway. I exited the highway rear-first and by a miracle was totally unharmed and felt like a complete fool. It was done in my Insight. Don't ask me to try it on an SUV, but I'm convinced I'd flipover repeating it.

BTW, SUVs flipover three times more than cars.

 

BTW, my spinout looked a lot like the SUV on the CNN video, swerve right, spin, leave the freeway rear-first on the right side, but kept in one piece inspite of myself.

 

The guy tried to get back on to the road surface immediately. My owner's manual (Ford Escape Hybrid) as well as the one in my husband's F150 clearly states one should a> not swerve drastically, and if you do, at least do the following -- b> don't slam on the brakes; let off the accelerator, don't attempt to overcorrect, c> when the vehicle's speed has dropped sufficiently and control is maintained, then SLOWLY steer to reassume the roadway. Driving over some debris on the side of the road/median is preferable to overcorrecting and flipping the vehicle.

It's really not that difficult, but people drive their SUVs like they're Indy Cars and wonder why they turn into tumbleweeds.

 

...but that's too intellectual and based in reality for many of these drivers!

...if I get into a situation like this, walk me thru this again, over my cell phone....

 

grin... cellphone while spinning out. I don't think that was in the manual as one of the steps. Maybe an OnStar rep could walk folks with that through the logistics, mid-spin.

 

Funny that there is a reference to this in the owner's manual. No one would think back to what the owner's manual says in a desperate situation such as this. You react, you don't think. Some react correctly, others don't. I suppose Ford is very sensative towards rollover litigation however.

 

I would... maybe I'm one of the few who actually reads the whole owner's manual, though. I see plenty of rollover sedan and sports car accidents here in San Antonio -- all due to high speed (teens joy riding, drunks, people evading the police, etc.) There are no shortage of ways for people to get themselves into life or death situations in motor vehicles of all shapes and sizes. The video in this thread indicates the SUV that flipped was attempting to evade police, as the video is from a PD cruiser, so one assumes they were travelling above the speed limit and did all the wrong things to maintain (in this case, lose) control of their vehicle.)

My Corolla has various driver handling warnings on it, too, though it's been so long since I drove it I've forgotten one to share as an anecdote.

PS: Don't check Google video for "car flip" videos. Just don't. Two videos show people being either ejected from or involved as pedestrians in car/SUV accidents at high speed. {shiver} If you need a reminder of the powerful weapons we ALL drive, though, do view them. We all need to be alert, careful and in control of our vehicles at all times regardless of if it's an SUV, small sedan or we're just walking or bicycling near traffic.

 

O.J. Simpson was smart enough not to put the police on a high-speed chase in his white Ford Bronco...