A rollover accident is a traumatic event that can lead to serious injuries and even death for the occupants of the vehicle. Although a rollover comprises a small percentage of the accidents that occur on roadways, the fatalities associated with this type of crash far exceed that percentage. The fatalities often occur when the roof of the vehicle deforms under the vehicle’s weight during the roll sequence. The roof deformation compromises the occupant survival space and can allow even a belted passenger to be partially ejected from the vehicle due to the damage of the vehicle’s roof structure.
Rollover accidents have been around as long as the motorized vehicle. However, over the years, the industry along with various watchdog groups have been able to isolate the vehicles most often associated with rollover accidents and the factors most often resulting in serious injury and/or death. Many of these factors have been accounted for in newer vehicles, however, the dangers of roof crush in a rollover accident persist due to inadequate rulemaking by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Historically, rollover accidents occur most often in sport utility type vehicles or any other vehicle with a high center of gravity and a narrow wheelbase. Seemingly normal driver inputs can have a dramatic effect on the stability of a vehicle with a high center of gravity and narrow wheelbase. The lateral forces on a vehicle of this type can increase with speed and sudden steering inputs causing the vehicle to lose balance and rollover. The most common scenarios leading to rollover are overcorrection of the vehicle – i.e., a sharp steering input to correct a prior input – and the speed of a vehicle leading into a turn. These types of scenarios lead to a loss of control of the vehicle and eventual rollover.
The forces experienced by the occupants of a vehicle involved in a rollover are significantly less than a vehicle traveling at the same pre-impact speed that encounters a head-on collision. However, the danger in a rollover comes not from the forces experienced by the occupants as a result of the movement of the vehicle in the roll sequence but rather by the deformation the vehicle encounters during the roll sequence. Most severe injuries and deaths are caused when the roof deforms as the vehicle rolls either compromising the survival space in the passenger compartment of the vehicle or deforming in a way that partially ejects a previously confined occupant outside the plane of the vehicle.
Roof crush resulting in compromise to the survival space of the passenger compartment can lead to a number of severe injuries, including death. The most common injuries associated with this type of deformation are injuries to the spinal column resulting in paralysis or positional asphyxia. Spinal column injuries can occur at various levels in the spinal column and result from compression to the spine due to the roof crushing in on the occupant. Positional Asphyxia occurs when an individual is trapped in the vehicle in a manner that does not allow them to breathe, essentially suffocating due to the lack of space in the vehicle caused by the roof crush.
Partial ejection injuries can be just as dangerous, if not more so. In a partial ejection injury case, the roof deforms in such a way that the occupant gets outside the plane of the vehicle by way of the manner in which the roof deforms. Oftentimes, the roof over the occupant’s head will shift so that the occupant’s head is now exposed to the elements and significantly more likely to be subjected to a fatal contact with the ground during the rollover sequence. Serious injuries can also be sustained when any part of an occupant’s body is ejected outside the plane of the vehicle during the ground contact.
NHTSA has created various rules over the last 45 years pertaining to the roof strength of a passenger vehicle and how to test the strength to ensure that it complies with standards. However, the rules largely favor automakers and do not sufficiently mimic the forces a vehicle undergoes in a real-world rollover scenario. As a result, automakers are disincentivized from performing any real-world rollover crash testing and while the vehicles may meet the standards promulgated by NHTSA, they do little to protect an occupant in a rollover crash.
Written by*:
Shalimar S. Wallis
WATTS GUERRA LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone: (210) 447-0500
Email: swallis@guerrallp.com
*This information is provided to supply information relating to rollover crashes, and should not be received as legal advice. Legal advice is only given to persons or entities with whom Watts Guerra LLP has established an attorney-client relationship. If you have a lawyer, you should consult with your own attorney, and rely upon his or her advice, rather than the information contained herein.
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
