Does roof strength really matter in rollovers?
During the past 30 years, there has been much debate about the association between roof crush in rollovers and serious head and neck injuries. Some studies have reported that roof strength and injury are not causally related but that occupants are injured as they “dive” into the roof before it crushes10,11,12 Conversely, other researchers maintain that injuries occur when the roof buckles into the occupant compartment and contacts the people inside.13,14 The debate about how people are injured in rollovers has obscured the fact that a strong vehicle “safety cage” is an essential part of crashworthiness design in all types of crashes. Institute testing using front and side impact configurations shows that limiting intrusion in the occupant compartment is necessary to provide space for the occupant restraint systems to prevent injury. The same principle applies to rollovers. A 2008 Institute study found that strong roofs reduce the risk of fatal or incapacitating injury in rollover crash
