Given the right circumstances, any type of vehicle can roll over. However, taller and narrower vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles (generally referred to as SUVs) are more prone to these types of accidents than regular cars. The higher center of gravity makes an SUV much more unstable.
Rollover accidents are among the most dangerous types of accidents that can occur on the highway. Although rollover accidents only account for approximately three percent of serious vehicle accidents, they account for approximately thirty percent of fatalities while riding in passenger vehicles.
Rollover accidents, in which a vehicle rolls onto its side or onto its roof, can be the most serious type of car accident. When a car, SUV, or truck of any kind rolls over, the people inside are thrown sideways and upside down violently, putting them at risk of serious head and neck injuries or even death. In cases where someone is ejected from the vehicle, the resulting impact will likely be fatal. Today we will go over how rollover accidents happen and what you can do to avoid a rollover accident.
The Shocking Statistics About Rollover Accidents
Many Americans buy larger vehicles like SUVs, and as a result, feel more secure as they believe they are normally safer cars. Millions of SUVs are sold in the United States annually to buyers who, seeing commercials and advertisements, are left with the impression that the vehicles are safe, rugged, and rugged.
Unfortunately, many buyers are unaware that SUVs can be dangerous as a result of SUV manufacturers and dealers unknowingly withholding vital safety information and failing to inform potential consumers about the risks associated with SUVs.
Also, due to the false sense of increased safety that many motorists experience when driving an SUV, it becomes much more dangerous as they feel safe driving at dangerous speeds in poor weather.
The statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) only further exemplify the inherently dangerous nature of rollover accidents:
More than 280,000 rollover accidents are reported each year in the United States.
More than 58,000 people are injured in SUV rollover accidents each year.
SUV rollover accidents increase the likelihood of serious injury by more than 36%.
More than 90% of SUV rollover accidents involve a single vehicle.
Below are some recent statistics for fatal rollover accidents in the United States:
Approximately 4,500 people are killed in SUV accidents each year.
63% of SUV rollover fatalities involved people being ejected from the vehicles.
Rollover accidents account for more than half of all single-vehicle accident deaths.
How can I avoid a rollover accident?
How SUV Rollover Accidents Happen
Although any vehicle can roll over, SUVs, trucks, and vans are more susceptible to these types of accidents than traditional cars. Rollover and roof crush accidents can occur in any vehicle. But studies and years of legal proceedings have shown that some vehicles have an unreasonable tendency to roll over, even under average driving conditions, including:
Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)
Vans for fifteen passengers
pickup trucks
large commercial trucks
Any vehicle with defective tires
While any type of vehicle can roll over, SUVs, unlike passenger cars, have a high center of gravity that puts the driver and passengers at high risk for rollover accidents and rollover injuries. Think of it like carrying a stack of boxes with totally different weights, once the heaviest boxes are at the bottom, it’s easier to control them. While it is possible to keep the heaviest boxes on top, even the slightest direction in gear and speed can cause them to topple over. The problem is that these vehicles are the high center of gravity combined with their high weight.
Most of these types of accidents happen when the SUV leaves the road!
Generally, a rollover accident happens very quickly. Your SUV could tip over and start rolling before you realize what happened. Even the most careful driver must usually use emergency maneuvers to avoid an accident, however, in an SUV, emergency steering could lead to vehicle rollover. Other scenarios that can cause a single SUV include hitting a guardrail, hitting the curb, and driving on loose gravel.
Four specific types of SUV rollover accidents include:
Ramp Rollover: An SUV can roll over if one side goes up a ramp or any other tall object.
Side Force Dump: When an SUV is traveling at a fast speed around a curve, the vehicle can be forced into a roll due to its high center of gravity.
Sideslip Dump: When traction is lost to the rear wheels of the SUV, it can easily spin, causing its tires to hit objects and cause a rollover.
Roll Over – When an SUV drives off the road or unintentionally leaves a paved road, the uneven surface can cause it to roll over.
Some other common types of reasons SUV rollovers occur include:
Reckless driving / excessive speed
Ignorance of the constitution of the SUV
Lack of understanding of the higher center of gravity of SUVs
Putting too much weight on the SUV (making it less stable)
Many people buy SUVs, trucks, and other types of large vehicles as a family car, believing that their height and weight can protect their families in an accident. Unfortunately, the height causes heavy vehicle engines and other parts to move further back and forth, making it easy to tip over after an accident, road bump, or even a normal maneuver.
A small annoyance for drivers of small cars, such as dodging an animal on the road, can lead to a serious accident for drivers and passengers in these larger vehicles. These design deficiencies result in thousands of preventable deaths each year. However, manufacturers still build and sell vehicles that use them.
Rooftop security in an SUV
Rollover accidents, in which a vehicle rolls onto its side or onto its roof, can be the most serious type of car accident. On vehicles with weak roofs, these roofs can also be crushed during a rollover, resulting in additional head injuries as well as serious puncture injuries from broken and jagged metal and glass. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that rollover accidents accounted for less than 5 percent of all accidents, but 1/5 of all fatal accidents.
When a car, SUV, or truck of any kind rolls over, the passengers inside are thrown sideways and violently, putting them in danger of significant head and neck injuries or even death. In cases where someone is ejected from the vehicle, the resulting impact is likely to be fatal. On vehicles with weak roofs, these roofs can also be crushed in a rollover, causing further head injuries, as well as serious puncture wounds from broken and jagged metal and glass.
SUVs are naturally much more susceptible to rolling than any other passenger vehicle. And designs with weak roofs can make rollover accidents significantly worse. When an SUV rolls over, and the roof collapses inward, it can cause serious injury to those inside.
A basic roll bar will reduce the chances of a collapsed roof!
Even though the statistics clearly show the danger of this flaw, few SUVs are built with basic scroll bars. The roofs of passenger cars and other vehicles 6,000 pounds or less are federally required to be able to support one and one-half times their weight. There is no such requirement for heavier light trucks, commercial big rigs, 18-wheelers, and tractor trailers.
The sheer weight of these vehicles makes safety measures like roll bars and roof bolsters vital, but adding them drives up manufacturers’ prices. Because there is no federal law that requires these roof bolsters, many manufacturers still do not include them. As a result, Americans suffer more than 1,000 preventable deaths each year.
SUV owners should be able to count on their vehicle to protect them in a crash, just like any other car owner. However, the biggest trend of
s SUVs to flip and roll over actually makes them more dangerous, leading to more injuries. Many of these injuries are serious, or even fatal. Victims lucky enough to survive a rollover accident typically suffer catastrophic injuries that can significantly affect their lives.
Common SUV rollover injuries include:
traumatic brain injury
Spinal cord injury, which can cause full or partial paralysis
Lower cervical neck fractures
back injury
Broken or fractured bones
Safety Tips for Safety in an SUV
While these statistics are true, they should not deter you from enjoying your SUV driving experience or buying an SUV. Although you may not be able to completely prevent a rollover accident, you can reduce the chance of such accidents occurring by taking certain precautions, including:
Drive carefully and avoid speeding.
Don’t load too much weight on your SUV.
Fasten your seat belt and make sure all passengers are buckled up.
Recognize your visual limitations.
Maintain your SUV on a regular basis.
Learn how to drive your SUV safely. Avoid sudden and abrupt changes of direction.
While you cannot control other drivers, you can ensure that your own driving is safe and take defensive driving measures to avoid unsafe drivers. Also, regardless of the cause of your SUV transfer, you should immediately contact an experienced California SUV attorney if you suffered a serious injury.
What you need to do to file an SUV rollover accident claim
If you have been injured in an SUV or car renovation, contact a car accident lawyer as soon as possible. California has a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, which means you must file your claim within two years of the date of your accident.
You can potentially recover against two parties in a rollover accident.
The first is the other driver: if they were at fault because they failed to take other reasonable precautions or violated traffic laws.
The second is the manufacturer of your vehicle: if your vehicle did not have the proper safety features to protect you in a rollover accident, or if poor design created an increased risk of your vehicle rolling over.
Many rollovers arise from problems or errors in the design of a vehicle!
Some common parties that may be liable in SUV rollover accidents include SUV manufacturers and designers for designing a weak roof structure and high center of gravity into their sport utility vehicles. To recover compensation from the manufacturer of an SUV that was involved in a rollover accident, a plaintiff can try to show that the manufacturer designed the vehicle in a way that was unreasonably dangerous.
Under California law, a plaintiff must prove the existence of a design defect in a vehicle by satisfying the utility of risk test. Under this approach, a design is considered unreasonably dangerous when the risks it presents outweigh the usefulness of the design. The plaintiff must also show that a reasonable alternative design was available at the time the manufacturer selected the allegedly dangerous design.
Depending on the situation, the plaintiff may also allege that the vehicle suffered a defect during the manufacturing process that made it unreasonably dangerous, or that the manufacturer failed to provide sufficient warnings when it marketed, advertised, and sold the vehicle. This could include not providing warnings about a vehicle’s propensity to roll when driven in a certain manner.
In some cases, a plaintiff may also assert a cause of action based on negligence against the vehicle manufacturer. This requires the plaintiff to show that the manufacturer was negligent or failed to use reasonable care when designing and building the vehicle or a component.
Personal injury cases require a plaintiff to prove causation!
In other words, the plaintiff must show that the problem with the SUV was the cause of his damage. The plaintiff must then present evidence that supports the forms of compensation they are seeking. Some common examples include medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, and diminished quality of life.
Los Angeles SUV Rollover Accident Lawyers
If you or a loved one were seriously injured in a utility vehicle rollover accident, you should hire a law firm that knows what they are doing. Our experienced and compassionate attorneys are dedicated to helping all car accident victims, including SUV rollover victims, treat each client with the dedication and respect they deserve in obtaining the full compensation and benefits to which they are entitled. right. We draw on our years of experience and resources to deal with rollover accidents. We will investigate the specific facts of your case to determine which parties may be responsible for your accident.