Characteristics of rollover crashes

Abstract

This paper analyses data from an in-depth study of rural crashes, supplemented by some data from police reports on crashes, to examine the characteristics of rollover crashes in South Australia. The risk of a crash being a single vehicle rollover increases markedly at higher travelling speeds and eighty per cent of them were initiated by the vehicle running at least partially onto the left unsealed shoulder. Road and traffic related countermeasures such as audio-tactile edge lining and sealed shoulders are noted, as is the potential to reduce the risk of a crash being a single vehicle rollover by reducing rural speed limits. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the design of vehicles in relation to rollover crashes, including the benefits of electronic stability control.