Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 216 regulates minimum roof strength, but no study to date has established a relationship between performance in this or any other test condition and occupant protection in real-world rollover crashes. The present study evaluated the relationship between roof strengths of 11 midsize SUV roof designs and the rate of fatal or incapacitating driver injury in single-vehicle rollover crashes in 12 states. Increased measures of roof strength resulted in significantly reduced rates of fatal or incapacitating driver injury after accounting for vehicle stability, driver age, and state differences.
Keywords:
Roofs; Rollover Accidents; Injury Probability; FMVSS; Regulations