QOTD: She's a Roller?

by Steph Willems

May 8th, 2020 8:51 AM

We’ve talked about being upside down on auto loans on these digital pages before, but we’ve never really talked about being… upside down. Literally.

Sometimes all the traction in the world does nothing to keep a car’s undercarriage pointed towards terra firma. Sunroofs can become glass floors in a hurry, especially if soft earth or an impacting vehicle unexpectedly enters the scene. In the case of Jeep’s latest Wrangler Unlimited, the unexpected trip 90-degrees from vertical took place in the worst place possible: in front of cameras, in the crash test facility of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Suffice it to say the institute frowned upon the Wrangler’s unrecoverable roll to starboard.

As you’d expect, the JL Wrangler Unlimited’s impromptu flight generated plenty of buzz online, and likely no shortage of consternation for Fiat Chrysler execs. The automaker claims the Jeep didn’t tip over during its own test; however, after agreeing to repeat the driver-side small overlap crash, the IIHS watched the model launch itself a second time.

Looking forward to the Bronco IIHS test pic.twitter.com/GXsvHQTcTg

— Adam J. Tonge (@ajtonge40) May 8, 2020

This writer has had the good fortune of never finding himself in such a frightening and dangerous situation. Can’t say the same for several friends. We’ve come a long way, safety-wise, since the days when a rollover could quickly snuff the life out of a vehicle’s occupants. Seatbelts, reinforced roofs, beefy pillars, and side curtain airbags go to work in a hurry when called upon. Electronic stability control works proactively to prevent upsets.

Still, rollovers are a reality we’ll likely never be free from. Have you ever found yourself upside down while behind the wheel? If it’s not too emotionally painful, tell us the story. Also: how did the car take it?

[Image: IIHS]

#QOTD #QuestionOfTheDay #Rollovers #Safety

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2 of 29 comments

Downunder on May 08, 2020

My mother was driving her '83 Ford Laser (Australia) down a dirt road, caught a pothole, and rolled the car onto its roof. After righting the car, the roadside assist said that apart from the cabin now flat on one side and more angle on the other side, it was perfectly capable of being driven. So they did drive the 100+ km home. They straightened the body, gave it a paint job and the car lasted another 10 years before being given to my brother. Tough little car. Tough Mom!

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MRF 95 T-Bird on May 09, 2020

Early 80’s I was sitting in the rear of a friends Jeep CJ-7 when he took a hard left turn at around 40-45 mph. I felt the right rear wheel lift and I grabbed the roll bar kind of feeling that the vehicle might rollover or at least tip. Thankfully he was an apt driver and corrected himself. This wasn’t long after the 60 minutes segment on the propensity of Jeep CJ’s to roll over with the citations in the Army manual warning not to take sharp turns otherwise known as the J-turn.

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