Rollover Car Accidents in College Park
Rollover accidents involve a collision between vehicles where, due to the force of the impact, the struck vehicle flips and rolls over once or multiple times. This rolling can be caused by the sheer force of the accident and the point of impact by one vehicle on the other vehicle.
Rollovers may also be caused by other circumstances such as roadway conditions. For example, if there is construction with uneven pavement and because of the force of the impact the vehicle comes into contact with an uneven area of the roadway, that can cause the car to flip over or rollover.
For this reason, if you have been injured in a rollover accident, it is important to contact a College Park car accident lawyer to ensure you receive the help and compensation you deserve.
Safety Precautions
A person can take precautions from becoming the victim of a rollover accident by always wearing his or her seat belt to reduce injury if involved in a rollover. A driver can also take evasive action if they see a car that does not look like it’s going to stop and will cause a collision.
In addition, guardrails are important on highways because when a car is involved in an accident on one part of the highway, guardrails prevent the car from traversing another part of the highway by being pushed or directed by the force of the impact into either oncoming traffic or another part of the highway. Vehicles have specific designs that protect an occupant within the vehicle if a rollover occurs. Items like the support beams, the roof of the vehicle, and the sides of the vehicle provide reinforcement should it rollover.
Differences From Other Accidents
Rollover accidents are different from other types of accidents because of the force and impact on a body as the vehicle flips and rolls. The dynamics of the impact on the body can be different and greater in extent and duration by the type of accident and force applied during the accident.
The percentage of rollover accidents that end up as fatalities and very serious injuries also differentiates these types of accidents. The mechanism of injury in these cases means there is much greater opportunity to be injured because the body is being affected inside the vehicle in different ways as the vehicle rotates, leading to increased opportunity for serious injury.
Documenting a Rollover Accident
A person should document a rollover accident to any extent they can, and take pictures if possible. In most instances, the accident is documented by emergency personnel, witnesses, and police investigators. In some cases, accident reconstruction experts, either the police experts or private experts, are involved.
A College Park attorney should be involved as soon as possible after the accident to document and preserve evidence of the accident, including the vehicle. In certain circumstances, the vehicle itself can be a cause of a rollover, so that vehicles need to be preserved and not destroyed or fixed.
Nothing should be done to the vehicle before a proper investigation can be conducted to see if any cause of the accident is attributable to the vehicle design, manufacturer, or any mechanical failure. This also applies to the other vehicle and an investigation of that vehicle. It’s very important to preserve all vehicles involved in the accident. Newer vehicles come with the equivalent of a black box and other sensory equipment which can be obtained that document the function of the vehicle including speed and other measurements.
Obtaining Evidence
It is important to obtain evidence from each vehicle as soon as possible after the accident. An attorney should be involved early to have safety experts look into the safety design and manufacturer to establish whether the vehicle meets the proper standards for protection against these types of accidents.
A proper investigation should be conducted to establish what occurred, how it occurred, to what degree any design or manufacturing defect contributed to the cause of the accident, and to establish through accident reconstruction the fault for the accident. For those reasons and many others, an attorney should be contacted as soon as possible to be involved in the investigation and preservation of evidence, which is all important in these types of cases to be able to establish liability against the proper parties and to maximize the recovery to which the injured party is entitled.