In even just the last couple of weeks, there have been a number of people hurt and killed in sport utility rollover crashes throughout the US. These injuries and fatalities are yet another reminder that SUV accidents can lead to catastrophic injuries for those involved.
Yesterday morning, a 26-year-old woman was taken to the hospital after she was a passenger in was involved in a Minnesota SUV rollover accident. The single-auto crash happened when the driver lost control of the vehicle.
On Saturday, an Oklahoma SUV rollover crash killed one woman and injured another when their sport utility vehicle went off the road and rolled over two times. The woman who died was not wearing a seatbelt when the collision happened and she was ejected from the auto.
Earlier this month, at least three people were killed in an Indiana SUV rollover crash that caused several occupants to be thrown from the motor vehicle, while others remained trapped inside and had to be extricated. Passengers that were alive at the accident site were taken to local hospitals. The catastrophic collision happened when the auto hit a number of boulders and overturned.
Then, of course, there was the Ohio SUV rollover collision that happened in Warren when six teens were killed. Eight teenagers were riding in the speeding sport utility vehicle when it struck a guardrail and overturned into a swampy pond.
SUV Rollovers
Obviously, driver negligence, poor road conditions, bad weather, and other
external factors can play a role in causing an SUV rollover accident.
That said, many experts remain convinced that a lot of sport utility vehicles
are designed in such a way that they are more prone to rolling over than
other vehicles.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, of all the SUV occupants that died in traffic crashes in 2011, 55% were involved in rollover accidents. Compare that to the 46% of pickup truck deaths involving rollover crashes and 24% of car accidents where a rollover occurred.
Rollovers involving SUVs tend to be more common than with other vehicles. Light trucks, such as SUVs,tend to be taller than cars, which means that while they have greater ground clearance, their mass is also distributed higher off the road relative to the vehicle’s width. The more cargo and people there are in the vehicle, the greater the gravity center. Autos with higher gravity centers tend to be more at risk of rolling over than other autos.
At The Gilbert Law Group®, our auto products liability lawyers represent clients that have suffered serious injuries because they were involved in a sport utility vehicle rollover accident that was caused by another party’s negligence. Please contact our SUV accident law firm today to request your free case evaluation.
You may have grounds for a auto defect lawsuit against a negligent auto manufacturer, seller, and distributor. You also may have reason to pursue an SUV rollover case against a driver, the entity of a road with defects, or other liable parties.
