Rollover Accidents Claim Many Texans

Rollover Accidents Claim Many Texans by Texas Rollover Lawyer Justin A. Hill

Rollovers accident account for a full one-third (33%) of all traffic fatalities. Approximately 10,000 people die a year in rollover fatality accidents.  Technology is available to automotive manufacturers to increase vehicle safety and survivability in rollovers and increase the stability of vehicles.  SaferAutomobiles.com is committed to highlighting technological and safety improvements that make vehicles safer.  Real accidents emphasizing the need for quick and effective action on the part of automotive manufacturers must be noted.  A few recent rollover accidents help illustrate the need for action.

KXXV.com reports:

One teenager is dead after a rollover accident at 1:30p.m. on a rural McLennan County Road.  State troopers told the Texas Report the 16-year-old and two other people were sitting in the bed of a pick-up truck when it rolled over on Elk Road, near Double E Ranch Road.  One of the two other passengers was airlifted to Hillcrest Baptist Memorial Center in Waco. The other was taken by ambulance to an area hospital.  The driver was not injured. All four people are from Calvert.

MyWestTexas.com reports:

A 7-year-old Kermit boy is dead after being ejected from a vehicle Friday morning when his mother’s minivan rolled near Stanton.  Christian Rodriguez was riding with his mom and two siblings in a 2005 Kia Sedona traveling east on Interstate 20 around 8:35 a.m., according to Department of Public Safety staff.  The driver, 31-year-old Hazel Marie Rodriguez, lost control of her vehicle when she overcorrected to the right side of the road, according to DPS. Rodriguez then ran off the road onto the Interstate 20 south Frontage Road about one mile east of Stanton, which caused the vehicle to roll several times, DPS staff said.  Christian was the only person in the vehicle not wearing a seat belt. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:15 a.m., according to DPS.  Hazel Marie Rodriguez and her other children, a 1-year-old and 5-year-old, were transported to Odessa Medical Center, where they were treated Friday and released, DPS staff said.  The Texas Department of Public Transportation shut down the outside eastbound lane of Interstate 20 while DPS troopers investigated the incident and didn’t reopen the lane until around 12:30 p.m., said Glen Larum, public information officer for TxDOT in the Odessa district.  DPS reports Friday didn’t show Rodriguez as being ticketed for the incident, staff said.  According to DPS’ website, children are required to be strapped in a “belt-positioning” booster seat through age 8 unless they are 4 feet 9 inches tall.

KWTX.com reports:

One man was taken by ambulance to a local hospital Monday afternoon from the scene of a one-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 190.  Killeen police said the driver of a black Dodge Ram pickup truck was westbound on U.S. 190 when the truck left the highway and overturned.  The westbound side of the highway was restricted to one lane while rescuers assisted the injured driver and cleared the roadway.  Information about the victim’s condition wasn’t available Monday afternoon.

This Blog has discussed rollover issues many times including here, here, and here.  Rollover prevention and creating stronger roofs continues to be a goal of automobile safety advocates and should be a high priority for vehicle manufacturers.  Citing the report above, “Nearly 10,000 people a year are killed in rollovers. When vehicles roll, their roofs hit the ground, deform, and crush. Stronger roofs crush less, reducing the risk of injury from contact with the roof itself. Roofs that don’t collapse help keep people inside vehicles when they roll. Rollovers are much more common for SUVs and pickup trucks than for cars. In 2008 almost half (47 percent) of all pickup occupants killed in crashes were in trucks that rolled over. This compares with 58 percent of deaths in SUVs and 25 percent in cars.”

If someone you know was injured or killed as the result of a rollover accident, encourage them to immediately contact a competent attorney for advice. It is extremely important to do this quickly to ensure that evidence is preserved, the rollover scene is surveyed and preserved, statements are taken, and the rights of all are protected.