Rusk County, Wisconsin sees three fatalities in one weekend from accidents suggestive of design defects

Three men were killed in three different vehicular accidents in a single weekend in Rusk County, Wisconsin. All three accidents involved vehicle rollovers: an SUV, a pickup truck and an ATV.

One man’s SUV—a 1999 Ford Expedition—rolled over as he rounded a curve; a passenger died when he was thrown from the vehicle during the rollover, and the driver and a second passenger were treated at a local hospital.

Another man died after his pickup truck rolled over, also when he was lost control of the vehicle rounding a curve. He was thrown from the vehicle and died at a local hospital from his injuries.

Rollovers of SUV and pickup trucks are far more common than in passenger cars because they have a higher center of gravity. The only other traffic fatality in Rusk County this year was last month, when a woman died after her pickup rolled over.

A third man lost control of he four-wheel ATV after striking a dog in the road; the dog was not injured, but the ATV overturned, killing the driver. Some ATVs have been found to be inherently unstable, leading to dangerous rollovers even on flat terrain.

For more information about these accidents, go to the Barron News Shield.