Before the Point of No Return

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img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Trucks, by their very nature, are more prone to rollover accidents than other types of vehicles. Not surprisingly, when a rollover occurs the results are often catastrophic, causing greater damage and injury than other accidents. But now new technologies in the form of active safety controls within the vehicle or within the highway infrastructure itself may be able to help reduce the frequency of rollover incidents.

According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, there are more than 15,000 rollover accidents every year involving all classes of commercial trucks. That works out to one rollover for every 1 million miles of truck travel. Two-thirds (9,400 incidents) involve heavy-duty tractor-trailers.

Although rollovers represent just 4% of all truck accidents, they account for a disproportionate 58% of the fatalities among tractor-trailer occupants, according to “Rollover of Heavy Commercial Vehicles,” a research report UMTRI released two years ago.

For the full story, see the April/May issue of Equipment & Maintenance Update, a supplement to the April 14 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.