Rollover Roof Crush
Understanding the defect
Hogan Law Office PC handled Volkswagen v. Marinelli, Alabama's leading decision involving utility vehicle rollover cases. The case appealed a $1.6 million jury verdict where two persons were killed when an unstable utility vehicle flipped over while trying to avoid an animal in the road. The jury found the vehicle defectively unstable and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed this decision. The firm has the technical expertise to understand the physics of overturn and the inherent stability deficiencies in utility vehicles.
Rollovers
Approximately 90 percent of crashes involving rollovers occur when the driver of a vehicle loses control of the vehicle, runs off the road, and the vehicle is tripped by a curb, ditch, or other object that causes it to rollover. These are usually single vehicle collisions.
More than 10,000 people die each year in the U.S. due to rollovers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), SUVs have the highest rollover rate in crashes with injuries and/or fatalities and they account for nearly 70 percent of all fatalities in rollover crashes.
To help consumers determine the likelihood of their vehicle rolling over in a single vehicle crash, NHTSA has created rollover resistance ratings. These ratings are measured by comparing the vehicle's center of gravity and track width in order to determine the top heaviness of the vehicle. The more top heavy a vehicle is, the more likely it is to roll over. As a result, SUVs are more likely to roll over than passenger cars. It is important to note that very few SUVs are equipped with roll bars to protect the occupants in the event of a rollover and this leads to a higher rate of roof crush.
Roof crush
Rollovers are the most common cause of roof crush. Roof crush occurs when the roof of a vehicle compresses into the interior of the vehicle. When the roof crushes during a rollover, it can lead to serious brain and neck injuries.
Federal requirements for roof crush state that the vehicle must withstand one and one-half times the weight of the vehicle at the sides of the roof. This requirement is tested while the vehicle is standing still and is not applied to the center portion of the roof. As a result, the test is a poor indicator of roof performance under actual rollover conditions.
Contact us today
If your client was in a rollover accident or was injured by a vehicle’s roof crushing in a rollover accident, please call us at 205-327-5235 or click here to contact us online.
