Many sport
utility vehicles can be, just by nature of their design, unstable.
They have a high center of gravity and narrow width. When an evasive
maneuver is required, such as avoiding an animal in the road or
a pothole, a rollover may result. SUVs are involved in a disproportionate
number of serious rollover accidents and crashes. Last year, rollovers
were a factor in nearly 30 percent of the highway fatalities. And
a New York Times analysis concluded that a rollover was the first
thing that went wrong in more than 38 percent of those deaths.