Vehicle manufacturers are aware of the rollover problem. However, warning of a problem and correcting it with better design engineering are not the same. In 1996, about 30 percent of all passenger deaths involved crashes in which a vehicle rolled over. Single-vehicle rollover crashes accounted for 19 percent of passenger deaths in cars, compared with 35 percent in pickups and 53 percent in utility vehicles, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. More than 9,000 people die each year in accidents in which vehicles roll over.
Pickups also have a higher rate of rollover than passengers cars.
Some 57 pickups roll over per million registered vehicles each year compared with 28 per million for midsize cars, according to government crash data.