Rollover Accidents

Rollover accidents are one of the most dangerous and frightening types of motor vehicle collisions, many of which result in injuries and fatalities. If you’ve been involved in a rollover accident or lost a spouse or family member due to another driver’s negligence in a rollover accident, consult with an attorney immediately.

A truck accident lawyer in Savannah may recover substantial compensation for your monetary losses, trauma, and other pain and suffering damages.

Schedule A Free Consultation Today!

Common Injuries Caused by Rollover Accidents

Thousands of Americans suffer an injury in rollover accidents annually. Types of injuries largely depend on the severity of the crash. However, these are the most common injuries associated with rollover accidents:

• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Concussions
• Spinal cord injuries
• Internal injuries
• Fractured and broken bones
• Lacerations and bruising
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Loss of limbs (amputations)
• Burns

Whiplash is an injury that is conducive to rollover accidents. It’s also known to be a delayed symptom that may not show up for several days after a rollover accident.

In some instances, accident victims may experience late whiplash syndrome, a condition defined as: “A collection of symptoms and disabilities seen more than six months after a neck injury occurring in a motor vehicle accident.”

Rollover accident injuries and insurance claims can be complex. Speaking with an experienced attorney about your case is in your best legal interest. They will advise you on settlement times and may secure significant compensation for your injuries.

Causes of Rollover Accidents

Several contributing factors to rollover accidents exist, but single-vehicle accidents top the list. A single-vehicle accident involves any collision causing damage to only one vehicle, regardless of whether another driver contributed to or caused the accident. Common causes of rollover accidents include:

Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is the leading cause of motor vehicle accidents, including rollovers. It involves any activity that takes a driver’s attention off the road. Typical examples of distracted driving are:

• Talking and texting on a cell phone
• Scrolling social media
• Taking selfies or making videos behind the wheel
• Adjusting vehicle controls 
• Adjusting GPS
• Listening to music
• Talking to passengers

When drivers are distracted by one or more distractions, they create dangerous situations for other motorists. Unfortunately, sometimes, that results in causing rollover accidents.

Impaired Driving

Impaired driving encompasses driving while under the influence of substances or when fatigued. It’s illegal to drive while impaired by alcohol or any substance. Impaired driving involves:

• Drunk driving
• Driving high on illicit drugs
• Driving while under the influence of over-the-counter meds
• Driving while under the influence of prescription medications
• Drowsy driving

Having a medical condition that affects driving, such as dementia, epilepsy, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, or vision conditions, is also considered an impaired driving cause of rollover accidents. Certain psychiatric disorders may also affect a person’s ability to drive safely.

Speeding

Speeding is a dangerous form of aggressive driving, resulting in numerous daily collisions. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) notes that 40 percent of fatal rollover crashes involve speeding.

Poor Road Conditions

Poor road conditions are often responsible for causing rollover accidents. Common poor road conditions include:

• Shoulder drop
• Highway ruts
• Improper drainage
• Potholes
• Defective pavement (cracks in concrete, tree roots)
• Faded road markings
• Inadequate signage
• Malfunctioning traffic lights
• Insufficient lighting
• Road debris
• Road obstruction

Poorly designed roads can lead to rollover accidents. Sharp curves, uneven surfaces, and steep slopes are typical road design elements contributing to rollover collisions.

Cargo Loading Issues

Semi-trucks (big rigs, 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers) are standard vehicles involved in rollover accidents. Cargo load issues, such as overloading, frequently cause these accidents due to the loss of balance from the freight.

Tire Blowouts

Poor maintenance or product defects are two causes of tire blowouts that lead to rollover accidents. The latter involves tire manufacturer negligence and may entitle you to compensation for your claim.

Who Is Liable in a Rollover Accident?

Determining liability (fault) in a rollover accident can be complicated, especially in single-vehicle crashes. People who may be liable for rollover accidents are as follows:

• Negligent motorists
• Vehicle and vehicle parts manufacturers
• Designers of the vehicle or one of its parts
• Negligent mechanic who worked on the vehicle involved
• Municipalities (local, state, and federal government agencies)

Property owners whose property the rollover accident happened, such as construction companies or businesses involving hazardous materials, may also be at fault. Three conditions of proving liability include having a known hazardous condition on their property, knowing about it, and foreseeing possible harm associated with the dangerous condition.

How a Rollover Accident Attorney Can Help

One of the most significant benefits of retaining a rollover accident lawyer to represent your legal interests is that it allows you to undergo medical treatments and recover from your injuries.

Understanding legal language, meeting legal deadlines, and learning legal processes on top of your recovery responsibilities can be overwhelming. Let an experienced attorney help.

Establish Liability

Proving negligence in a rollover accident can be complex because it requires establishing that someone other than the driver was at fault. An attorney must demonstrate:

• The at-fault party owed the accident victim a legal duty of care, such as following traffic laws and keeping their attention on driving.
• The at-fault party breached the duty, for example, by reading a text message and drifting into oncoming lanes of traffic, causing the victim to maneuver quickly and resulting in a rollover.
• The at-fault party’s negligence was directly responsible for the accident.
• The victim suffered actual damages due to the rollover accident.

Establishing liability is made easier with your lawyer’s comprehensive investigation into your rollover accident case.

Protect You Against Insurance Companies

Insurance companies have an interest in denying liability to save money. Unrepresented accident victims can be unfortunately victimized a second time when communicating with insurers. They have a playbook of strategies they use to do it that involves:

• Acting like your friend to make you comfortable before asking questions designed to get you to admit partial or total liability so they can undervalue or dismiss your claim.
• Pressuring you to make a recorded statement that they can dissect for statements they may use to dismiss liability.
• Pressuring you to release your medical records to their company.
• Asking you to allow their in-house doctors to evaluate your injuries.
• Offering settlements that only cover medical service copays.
• Hiring private investigators to spy on your activities and social media accounts.
• Telling you that you do not need legal representation.

Insurance claims adjusters are notorious for pressuring rollover accident victims to settle their cases too soon before they recover from their injuries. Retaining an experienced personal injury attorney creates a barrier between you and their predatory practices. Once you’ve obtained legal counsel, the insurance companies cannot call you again.

Gather Evidence

Collecting evidence that may prove negligence and secure your right to compensation in the beginning stages is imperative. Critical evidence, such as commercial and residential video footage, may be lost if not gathered quickly. Types of evidence in a rollover accident:

• Police report
• Eyewitness statements
• Medical records
• Photos of the accident scene and vehicle damage 
• Debris collected from the collision site
• Surveillance videos of the accident
• Dashcam footage
• At-fault drivers’ cell phone records (if believed being on it was responsible)

Additional evidence may also be present in rollover accidents involving large trucks, such as truck inspection records, trucker driving records, and the truck’s electronic logging device (ELD).

Accident Reconstruction

Attorneys work with accident reconstruction experts to determine the sequence of events leading to the rollover. It’s a complex process involving analyzing the physical evidence of the scene. Things accident reconstruction specialists consider include:

• Evidence at the accident scene (glass, plastic, and paint transfers)
• Ejection portals (doors, windows, sunroofs)
• Vehicle deformation
• Roll count (number of times the vehicle fully rotated)
• Crash test results
• Braking distance relative to the speed of the vehicle

Analyzing the evidence from the accident scene helps reconstruction specialists recreate your circumstances, pinpointing key points of liability. Experts can create visualizations using computer software to render 3D models of the accident scene or animations that show how an accident happened.

They also use mathematical equations to determine velocity, acceleration, energy, and momentum. Their testimony can be helpful in proving negligence in your case.

Value Damages

Your rollover accident attorney will value your claim’s financial losses and other damages to determine eligible compensation. These calculations will include economic and non-economic damages incurred in the rollover accident.

Economic Damages

Economic damages are quantifiable expenses due to the rollover accident. They come with a paper trail of evidence and exact numbers. They include:

• Medical expenses (ER, hospitalization, surgeries, treatments, devices, medications)
• Rehabilitation services 
• Disability costs (ramps, lifts, vehicle modifications)
• Lost income (salary, benefits, bonuses)
• Property damages (vehicle and personal property destroyed in accident)
• Household services 
• Grocery and meal delivery services

Keep all your records, such as billing statements, vehicle repair invoices, and receipts for out-of-pocket expenses. During your initial consultation, give any evidence of your paper trail to your attorney.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages may be more challenging to recover from and prove. They aren’t monetary losses. However, your lawyer will ascribe monetary value to them in your demand letter. They include:

• Chronic pain
• Mental and emotional distress
• Decreased quality of life
• Loss of activities (inability to partake in hobbies you enjoyed before the accident)
• Loss of consortium or companionship
• Disfigurement and scarring
• Inconvenience 
• Psychological trauma (PTSD, vehophobia —fear of driving after an accident)

Non-economic damages are more challenging to prove and may be valued in several ways. The most common is the multiplier method. It involves multiplying the total loss of your economic damages by a number between 1.5 and 5. Ask your lawyer how their firm calculates these losses.

Wrongful Death Damages

People grieving the loss of a loved one due to a rollover crash have legal rights to compensation, too. They can seek wrongful death damages, including:

• Pain and suffering of decedent before their death
• Pain and suffering for surviving loved ones
• Final arrangement costs (funeral, burial, cremation)
• Loss of financial support
• Loss of benefits (health, retirement)
• Loss of inheritance
• Loss of guidance and support 
• Value of services (cleaning, home maintenance, childcare)

Surviving victims of wrongful death, including spouses, children, parents, siblings, and other family members, have legal rights to recover compensation for damages incurred. Please speak with an attorney to determine a plan of action to retrieve them.

Expert Witnesses

Expert witness testimony lends significant credibility to the valued damages of your rollover truck accident claim. Your lawyer may call on the credibility of expert witnesses from several fields, such as:

• Medical professionals
• Mental health specialists
• Occupational therapists
• Vocational rehabilitation therapists
• Speech and language therapists
• Audiologists
• Accident reconstruction experts
• Economists
• Engineering experts
• Product defect experts 

Rollover accident lawyers work with life care planners to assess the medical conditions of accident victims and create care plans expressed in monetary terms. They are diverse rehabilitation professionals, including physicians, physical therapists, nurses, rehabilitation counselors, social workers, and psychologists.

Maximize Settlements

Negotiating settlements may involve a few rounds of demands. Having an experienced attorney handle the negotiations ensures the likelihood of a heftier settlement. Insurance companies know that lawyers won’t settle for less or stop demanding what’s fair.

Case Representation in Court

In the event your attorney and the insurance companies cannot agree on a settlement, your case will move to trial. Your lawyer will file the lawsuit, enter the discovery process, and present your case to a judge and jury.

Contact A Skilled Rollover Accident Lawyer Today

Schedule a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer in Savannah to discuss the specifics of your accident. They can recover financial compensation.