Award upheld in rollover
A woman who was paralyzed after her Ford Explorer rolled over was awarded 82.6 million in damages against Ford Motor company. Initially she was awarded 369 million including 246 million in punitive damages but the higher courts have twice cut the size of the award. It appears based on this latest round of court challenges Ford will be on the hook to pay for these damages. Rollover accidents cause thousands of deaths each year and paralyze countless others each year.

SUVs need stronger roofs.
The insurance institute for highway safety report claims the stronger the roof the less risk of death from a rollover." Strengthening a vehicle`s roof reduces injury risk,and reduces it a lot" said institutes president Adrian Lund. Clearly, rollover crashes occur. In 2006 alone there were 9362 deaths from rollover crashes.
If we accept the fact that SUV`s are going to rollover even with all the new technologies such as electronic stability control and even with side impact airbags doesn`t it make sense to just strengthen the SUV roof?
Many crashes result in the roof of the SUV folding in or crushing in on the occupant most experts believe the crush of the roof is what kills the occupants and is the leading cause of death in the rollover.
If the roof is stronger there will be less incursion and less death. The industry and the Government should err on the side of caution and require tougher standards on crashworthness of their SUVs. see http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-03-11-car-roof-safety_N.htm