A recent accident involving a tractor trailer and an SUV illustrates just how serious rollover accidents can be. After the two vehicles, which were traveling in the same direction, collided, the SUV rolled over. The driver of the SUV and the four passengers were all injured, and one of them suffered a head injury so severe that she had to be airlifted to the hospital.
Rollover crashes often cause severe injury and/or death. Rollover accidents can be caused by many things, such as weather, road conditions, vehicle type, and driver skill. Fortunately, this means that there are multiple things that drivers can do to decrease the risk that they will be involved in a rollover accident, including improving their driving skills and choosing not to drink and drive.
In some rollover accidents, the vehicle that rolls over has physical features that actually made it more prone to rolling over than other vehicles on the road. For example, vehicles that are tall and narrow have the greatest rollover risk. The shape of these vehicles, which include many SUVs, vans, and pickup trucks, gives them a high center of gravity. This means that it takes less force to roll them over than it would take for other vehicles with lower, wider stances. Some vehicles have features like stability control, which reduce rollover risk. Stability control features detect overcorrections and compensate for them by braking automatically. Variable ride height suspensions help vehicles adapt to changing driving conditions and make automatic adjustments to reduce the likelihood of a rollover.
Excessive speed can cause rollover accidents, and, unfortunately rollover accidents that are caused by excessive speed are often fatal. Alcohol consumption greatly increases the likelihood that you will make poor choices while you are driving, which may cause you to lose control of your vehicle and roll it over. Approximately half of all fatal rollover accidents involve alcohol. Road conditions can play a role in rollover accidents, too, with rollover crashes happening more frequently on rural roads, where the dividing lines are not as clearly marked and where the speed limits may be high, even though there are curves.
Since many of the causes of rollover crashes are directly related to driver behavior, drivers can greatly reduce the risk that they will have a rollover accident by making better choices while they drive. Some choices that reduce risk include following posted speed limits, choosing not to drink and drive, choosing not to drive while tired, avoiding distractions, properly inflating and maintaining tires and loading vehicles properly.
Giddens Law Firm, P.A.: Helping Automobile Accident Victims throughout Mississippi
If you were injured in a rollover accident or someone that you love was killed, a Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorney may be able to help you pursue a claim for damages. To learn more about how the Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys of the Giddens Law Firm, P.A. can help you with your personal injury claim, please call our office today, at (601) 355-2022.