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This paper discusses a simplified analytical/experimental method for evaluating and designing large buses and motor coaches for rollover protection. The proposed method makes use of the work-energy principle in analyzing the energy-absorbing capacity of the roof and sidewall structure of the vehicle. The basic structural unit is treated as a nonlinear, elastoplastic, 4-bar linkage, with the links connected at hinge points. During rollover, the deformation of the structure is focused at these hinge points and energy absorption is achieved through plastic bending and rotation of the hinge material. The proposed method allows the evaluation and design of these plastic hinges to achieve the energy-absorbing requirements for the vehicle. This paper demonstrates the proposed methodology by evaluating an exemplar large bus design against the European ECE-R.66 rollover design standard.