A rollover accident is one of the most terrifying and dangerous types of car accidents, often causing severe or catastrophic injuries from blunt force trauma in multiple directions as the vehicle rolls. Rollover accidents are one of the most common single-car accidents, but that does not mean the driver is always at fault. Even a careful and experienced driver can suffer injuries in a rollover accident in Carrollton or elsewhere when another driver or another party’s negligence causes a crash.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Rollover Accidents In Carrollton?
Most rollover crashes result from overcorrections or abrupt steering maneuvers. Common causes of rollover accidents include the following:
- Speeding around curves
- Being sideswiped by another vehicle
- “Tripping” or having one wheel or both tires on one side hit a curb, guardrail, steep roadside incline, or construction obstacle, causing a tip and roll
- Distracted driving
- Impaired driving
- Being T-boned (hit broadside) by a vehicle moving at high speed, or by a large vehicle like a commercial truck
Tall vehicles like pickup trucks, SUVs, RVs, buses, and vans are more likely to rollover in accidents due to their top-heavy designs. Because lane-size restrictions don’t allow vehicle manufacturers to widen wheelbases enough to balance extended height in these vehicles, they often tip easily.
What Types of Injuries Occur In Rollover Accidents?
Besides injuries from the crash force of an accident that propels the motorist forward at high speed and then snaps them back against the seatbelt, the body sustains blunt force trauma at the collision points in an accident when the car’s structure collapses forcefully inward. In rollover accidents, whether the vehicle rolls once or multiple times, the structure collapses around the motorists on all sides, including the roof. Common injuries in rollover accidents include the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Crush injuries
- Single and multiple fractures, including those of the ribs, hips, and pelvis, as well as limbs
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Lacerations, contusions, and abrasions
- Soft-tissue injuries to knees, elbows, wrists, and ankles
- Head, facial, and dental injuries
- Burns
- Traumatic limb loss
Texas is a fault-based state with a modified comparative negligence system of proportionate responsibility. Under this system, even if an injury victim in a rollover accident was partly at fault for their accident, they can still recover compensation, but the insurance company subtracts the injury victim’s percentage of fault from the amount they pay on the claim.
Liability and Damages In Carrollton Rollover Accidents
A successful claim for compensation after a rollover accident requires the injury victim to prove the at-fault party’s liability. The evidence must show the following:
- The at-fault party owed a duty of reasonable care to the injury victim
- They breached this duty through negligence
- The breach of duty directly caused the injury
- The injury victim suffered damages from the injury, like past and future medical expenses, lost earnings, diminished earning ability, and compensation for pain, suffering, and catastrophic injury
Common liable parties in Carrollton rollover accidents include negligent or reckless drivers, negligent road-construction agencies or contractors, or the manufacturer of a vehicle with a design flaw that makes it prone to tipping.
How Can a Rollover Accident Lawyer In Carrollton Help?
If you or a close family member suffered injuries in a rollover accident, you deserve skilled legal representation to pursue compensation from all available avenues. An experienced Carrollton car accident lawyer represents your best interests while investigating the accident, documenting evidence to present to an insurer, and negotiating the highest possible settlement.
Most claims end with settlements, but about 4% go to court. An experienced Carrollton car accident lawyer is your best ally throughout the process, especially if an insurance adjuster tries to assign undue liability to you to reduce the amount they must pay on your claim. Call GreeningLaw P.C. so a skilled car accident attorney can begin strategizing your financial recovery.