2012 Chevrolet Suburban Rolls Over During NHTSA Side-Impact Crash Test
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While there are merits to the safety benefits from riding in a taller, heavier vehicle, there are disadvantages as well. According to safety evaluations from NHTSA, the 2012 Chevrolet Suburban suffered a rollover during a side-impact crash test.
Simulating a passenger car striking the driver’s side at 38 miles an hour, the inertia caused the Suburban to land on its side. Along with the Ford Escape and the Nissan Rogue, the Suburban is the third current-model SUV to tip over during the side-impact test. In typical cases, vehicles should only skid on all four wheels.
From plugging in parameters into a mathematical formula, the NHTSA projects that the Chevrolet Suburban has a 24 percent risk of rolling over in a single accident. Neither GM or NHTSA has responded to requests for comment on the crash tests. Moreover, other than the rollover concern, the Suburban earns top scores in both frontal and side impact crash safety for occupants. However, the overall rating was only dropped to four out of five stars because of the mentioned rollover calculations.
GALLERY: 2012 Chevrolet Suburban Side-Impact Crash Test
[Source: The Examiner]
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What happens to a "Smart" car when broadsided at 38 mph??
On the up side, the accident was survivable by properly restrained passengers. I notice the driver's side air bag deployed properly. The problem is that the center of mass of the Suburban was above the center of impact. Passenger cars have been redesigned to reduce injury to pedestrians in a vehicle/pedestrian impact. The 'plow' type front end will lower the point of impact and redirect impact force into a lifting force. I anticipate more such roll-overs from side impacts. I once watched a 57' Chevy get rolled by a partial side impact from a VW bug. The physics is the same.