While every car accident is frightening and dangerous, there are few that are as terrifying or as deadly as rollover accidents. These death-defying traffic accidents are often caused when a speeding or otherwise negligent motorist interferes with another vehicle’s safe passage – leaving them with no safe choices.
For example, if you’re cut off and have nowhere to go but into the shoulder at high speed, it can trip a rollover accident. If another driver’s negligence causes you or someone you care about to be injured in a rollover accident, you shouldn’t wait to consult with an experienced Georgia car accident attorney.
Rollovers are More Common Than You Might Think
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted an exhaustive study, which concluded the following:
- In a single year, two percent of all cars that were involved in accidents rolled over.
- In that same year, 15 percent of all cars that were involved in fatal accidents rolled over.
- These numbers are significantly higher for light trucks.
In other words, rollovers not only happen far too often but are also as dangerous as they seem – often leading to catastrophic injuries or death.
Your Body in the Course of the Accident
When a vehicle rolls onto its side, its roof, or all the way over – sometimes multiple times – the occupants experience considerable impact from every conceivable angle, and they are far more likely to be ejected from the vehicle. Rollovers are incredibly dangerous and incredibly unpredictable, but they are very closely associated with very serious injuries that can alter the course of their victims’ lives.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Your head is vulnerable to injury in any car accident, but the risk increases if your vehicle rolls. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) come with their own dire statistics, including:
- In 2020, about 175 people in this country died as a result of TBIs each day.
- The year prior, more than 223,000 people were hospitalized for TBIs
TBIs are caused when the brain strikes the skull during impact, and this category of impact can be especially severe during rollovers. A TBI alters the way the victim’s brain operates, which makes it especially damaging in terms of the victim’s ability to function in the world as well as to cope emotionally. All told, TBIs are a major cause of death and disability in this country.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries are common in car accidents, and rollover accidents often lead to serious spinal cord injuries. Because our bodily movements are guided and controlled by our spinal cords, even minor injuries can lead to debilitating pain and to serious physical limitations. When the spinal cord is seriously damaged – or severed – permanent paralysis is the result, which translates to a lifetime of healthcare requirements along with the need for assistance in the activities of daily living.
Internal Injuries
In the course of rolling over in your vehicle, the risk of suffering life-threatening internal injuries is very real. Internal injuries are rendered all the more dangerous by the fact that they can be slow to present with symptoms, which affords them the opportunity to become even more serious before receiving the medical attention they require.
Turn to an Experienced Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney for the Help You Need
The compassionate Atlanta personal injury attorneys at Spaulding Injury Law take great pride in their proven track record of helping clients like you obtain just compensation that allows them to heal as completely as possible, and we’re here for you too. For more information and to schedule your free consultation today, please don’t hesitate to contact or call us at 770-744-0890.
