If you were asked to name the types of crashes that cause the most deaths, you might say head-on collisions. Or, if you know something about traffic statistics, you might expect intersection crashes or left turns to be high on the list, or even single-vehicle crashes off the road.
You might not expect that rollover crashes are still one of the crash configurations with a high number of fatalities each year, but they continue to rank near the top.
Increased Concern
The popularity of SUVs, beginning in the mid-1980s, led to both an increase in rollover crashes and concern about the design of these vehicles. The problem was real: When the US Department of Transportation took a hard look at the data in 2002, they found that rollover deaths had risen 9 percent across the 1990s, despite a decrease in passenger car rollovers. The reason? A more than one-third increase in incidents involving light trucks and SUVs.
Other interesting information was revealed, including that victims in rollovers were noticeably less likely to be wearing seat belts than the average driver. And yes, the data showed that SUVs had a higher chance of rolling when their drivers tried to maneuver before a crash, but that more than half of all drivers in multi-vehicle crashes that included a rollover fatality made no attempt to avoid the crash at all.
Improved but Not Removed
In 2005, more than 10,800 people died in rollovers, about 27 percent of all crash fatalities, and around four in ten of those rollover deaths were in passenger cars (not SUVs). Those numbers have been on a mostly steady (but slow) decline for some time.
By 2014, rollovers accounted for under 19 percent of crash deaths (nearly 7,600), and in 2016, the estimate was below 7,500 total, with tens of thousands more injured. But that was nearly one-third of fatalities that year, while rollovers only made up a few percent of all crashes.
Single- and Multi-Vehicle
It’s true that the majority of rollovers are single-vehicle crashes. But they still happen in crashes with other vehicles. In February, a pickup in Lakewood was left on its roof after causing a crash at an intersection. A day rarely goes by without news of a crash of this type, like the one earlier this month in El Cajon, where a two-vehicle collision left one on its roof.
Orange County Car Accident Lawyer
It doesn’t matter what type of crash you’ve been in, when you’re the victim of someone else’s careless driving, it’s critical that you take all the steps necessary to ensure that you are compensated for all damage and injury caused. Your medical expenses and lost wages need to be recovered—and without the right legal assistance that can be difficult.
Contact the experienced automobile accident attorneys at Kohan & Bablove, Injury Attorneys today at 949.535.1341 or contact us online through the form below to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case. We’ve helped hundreds of clients settle their cases successfully, and we’re ready to help you.
