A man who lost his son in an SUV roof crush accident in 2003 sought out the assistance of Oklahoma Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. Upon reviewing the evidence supplied by the man, Coburn discussed the issue of roof crush with Senator Mark Pryor, who is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Automotive Safety. A Senate hearing to discuss the role that roof crush plays in rollover accidents is scheduled for June 4.

Roof crush occurs when the weight of the vehicle exceeds the strength of the roof, cause the roof to collapse during a rollover and crush the occupants. Roof crush can result in serious injuries to the head, neck and spine, often resulting in death. Even though only 3 percent of accidents are rollovers, they have the highest rate of fatality.

Researchers have proposed that stronger roof strength standards could prevent up to 10,000 deaths per year from roof crush during rollovers.

Car wreck attorneys are working on cases in which serious injury has resulted from the negligence of automotive manufacturers.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 pm and is filed under Crashworthiness, Defective Products, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Negligence, Roof Crush, SUV Rollovers, Stability, Tire Defects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.