Preventing rollovers

Explanation

Rollover crashes account for nearly one-third of all passenger vehicle deaths. To reduce your risk:

• Avoid panicked steering. Many rollovers happen when drivers overcorrect in a panic. At highway speed, excessive steering can make the vehicle slide sideways and roll.
• If you leave the roadway, don’t turn back onto the pavement right away. Ease off the gas and, when it is safe, gradually turn back.
• Maintain your tires. Improperly inflated and worn tires make it harder to keep control of the vehicle.
• Load properly. Your owner’s manual gives the maximum safe load and how to distribute it.
• Use caution on rural roads. Rollovers are more likely on undivided two-way roads or divided roads with no barriers; a car that runs off the road can be tripped by a ditch, embankment or soft soil.
• Slow down on curves and ramps. Don’t exceed the advisory speeds posted there.

A 15-passenger van’s rollover risk increases dramatically as more people ride in it.

Example

Your right wheels drift onto a soft gravel shoulder. Instead of yanking the wheel left, you hold the wheel steady, ease off the gas, and steer gently back onto the pavement once you have slowed and the way is clear.

Common mistake

Jerking the wheel to get back on the road. That sudden, large steering input is exactly what causes many rollovers.

What the manual says

Rollover crashes account for nearly one-third of all passenger vehicle fatalities.

Many rollovers occur when drivers overcorrect their steering as a panicked reaction to an emergency.

If your vehicle leaves the roadway, do not turn back onto the pavement right away. Ease up on the gas pedal. When it’s safe to do so, gradually turn back onto the road.