Dynamic rollover testing on the way

NHTSA announces that the ‘fishhook’ maneuver, along with the static stability factor, will be used to rate vehicles for rollover propensity beginning with the 2004 model year.

Developing a driving test maneuver to determine how susceptible a vehicle is to rolling over would not, on the surface, seem to be a tough chore, according to the U.S. chief of vehicle safety. But with accuracy, reliability, and driver safety of utmost concern for such testing, the job turned out to be a complex one.

It took three years of steady work by a group of about 10 NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) engineers and technicians to cultivate a suitable test. Called the fishhook maneuver, the test involves a subject vehicle being driven at a predetermined speed through back-to-back precision turns that, viewed from above, define the shape of a fishhook.