A rollover car accident or car crash is an incident in which an automobile tips on its side or rolls over on its roof. Car crashes — also called road traffic accidents (RTAs), traffic collisions, auto accidents, road accidents, personal injury collisions or motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) — kill an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number (WHO, 2004).

The statistics show that for popular, lightly built cars, occupants have a 6–8% chance of death in a two-car accident. Traditional "safety cars" decrease the risk by 50% chance. In multiple-vehicle crashes SUVs are not much more lethal than passenger cars. SUVs actually post a greater threat to roll over and resulting fatality than passenger cars because of their top weight.

Rollover car accidents carry legal consequences in proportion to the severity of the crash. Nearly all common law jurisdictions impose some kind of requirement that parties involved in a collision (even with only stationary property) must stop at the scene, and exchange insurance or identification information or summon the police. Failing to obey this requirement is referred to as hit and run and is generally a criminal offence. Most car claims are settled without using an attorney.