Rollover accidents happen when a vehicle ends up on its roof or side. In some cases, vehicles roll multiple times before coming to a rest. Anytime a vehicle rolls, it presents a high chance of serious injury. If you or a loved one suffered an injury in a rollover accident, you need fair compensation for medical care, rehabilitation, lost income, vehicle repairs, and other damages.
Hire a car accident lawyer in Phoenix to seek fair compensation for your accident-related damages. Your attorney’s service will ensure you remain focused on your health while your legal team pursues your financial recovery.
Why Rollover Accidents Often Cause Severe Injuries
Rollover accidents are relatively rare, as motor vehicles are designed to remain upright. When these accidents do happen, there is a high risk of serious injury because:
- Serious force is required to cause a rollover: When a vehicle rolls over, it suggests that the vehicle underwent substantial force. Whether this force was due to another vehicle striking it, an abnormal change of direction, or other circumstances, rollovers are often violent, high-force accident types.
- Victims can be ejected from the vehicle: Motorists can be ejected from rolling vehicles. While seat belts can reduce the risk of an ejection, occupants sometimes end up outside the vehicle because of a rollover. This outcome exposes the occupant to high injury risk.
- Airbag deployment is a certainty: When a vehicle rolls over, its airbags (so long as it has them) are almost certain to deploy. While airbags can be potentially life-saving, they can also contribute to injuries. This is especially true if an airbag is defective, though even non-defective airbags can result in physical harm.
- Broken glass is likely: Windows, windshields, and sunroofs are prone to shatter during a rollover accident. Broken glass can cause severe lacerations, eye injuries, and other serious physical ailments.
- The roof can cave in: If the roof of a vehicle is crushed during a rollover, it may cave in on occupants’ heads, necks, or other body parts. While vehicles are tested to sustain such serious collisions, crushing injuries are a serious concern in any rollover accidents.
- Your body may take a beating: Even if you are not crushed during the accident, the force your body experiences during a rollover can leave you feeling battered and bruised. This pain may be long-lasting and may coincide with diagnosed injuries.
The act of a vehicle rolling over may be one of multiple harmful events. For instance, you may also have injuries related to a motor vehicle striking yours. In any case, rollover collisions pose an unusually high risk of injuries.
Why It’s Important to Hire an Attorney After a Rollover Accident
Every auto accident survivor should consider hiring a car accident lawyer. The same is true of those who lose a loved one because of a fatal rollover accident. Some of the most common reasons for hiring a car accident attorney include:
You Should Give Recovery Due Attention
Studies suggest that patients have substantial control over their recovery. Your outlook towards recovery, as well as the time you dedicate to rest, treatment, and rehabilitation, may affect:
- How long your recovery takes
- How long you experience acute symptoms
- How long your quality of life suffers after the rollover accident
It is essential to your health and happiness that you prioritize recovery after your accident. Hiring a lawyer will ensure your case does not take away from the recovery process.
Experience Matters in Rollover Accident Cases
Never underestimate the value of experience, including in insurance claims and lawsuits. An attorney’s background of successfully leading rollover accident cases can only benefit your case.
Conversely, you may have no experience with serious auto accident claims and lawsuits—most people don’t. It makes sense to let a lawyer use their knowledge and real-world experience in your favor.
You May Have a Large Financial Recovery to Win (or Lose)
The cost of serious motor vehicle accidents can reach six, seven, or even eight figures. You may have much to lose if you don’t negotiate a fair settlement or secure a fair judgment. If you believe a lawyer has the best chance of securing the compensation you deserve, your financial security demands that you hire them.
You May Not Have the Time, Energy, or Mental Capacity for Your Case
Those involved in rollover accidents often:
- Spending significant time on rest and recovery
- Constrained by physical pain, which may limit their movement
- Suffering psychologically and emotionally
- Overwhelmed by handling their personal, professional, and health-related responsibilities
These challenges may prevent you from leading your own rollover accident case.
You May Have to Sue
While the substantial majority of civil cases settle, many cases go to trial. A case may be even more likely to go to trial when it involves complex injuries and significant financial damages, as rollover accidents often do.
A car accident lawyer:
- Understands the process of completing lawsuits and trials
- Knows deadlines for filing rollover accident lawsuits
- Can draft and file paperwork promptly
- Understands when it is necessary (and beneficial to the client) to go to trial
- Knows how to allocate resources during lawsuits and trial
- Can lead a trial from start to finish
If you were handling your own claim, you might be unable to pursue a lawsuit. You may lack the legal knowledge and experience to do so. A lawsuit is a viable option when you have a lawyer representing you.
Your Lawyer Will Determine Who Caused the Rollover Accident
Your attorney will be responsible for every aspect of your case, including establishing fault. They can accurately trace financial liability once they know who is responsible for the accident.
Distracted driving, drinking and driving, and speeding are among the factors that increase the risk of rollover accidents. However, rollover accidents happen because of a variety of hazards and behaviors, including:
Defective Vehicles
If defective tires, brakes, suspension, or other vehicle components lead to a rollover accident, liable parties may include:
- The vehicle designer
- The vehicle manufacturer
- The vehicle assembler
- The vehicle seller
The vehicle that rolls over may not be the defective one. Your attorney will consider all potential accident causes and hold any negligent manufacturers responsible.
Motorist Negligence
Motorists are the most likely liable party when auto accidents happen. Those who speed, drive while drunk, run red lights, change lanes dangerously, and engage in other dangerous acts increase the risk of rollover accidents.
Dangerous Road Conditions
Potholes, defective traffic signals, poor lighting, uneven pavement, absent signage, unsafe work zones, and other dangerous road conditions can lead directly to auto accidents. A municipality can be liable when unsafe roads contribute to rollover accidents.
Pedestrian Behaviors
If a motorist must swerve suddenly to avoid hitting a pedestrian, their vehicle may roll as a result of the sharp turn. This is one of many possible examples of pedestrians being responsible for rollover auto accidents.
Determining the cause of your accident will be one of your lawyer’s top priorities, as this is necessary to identify liable parties.
Steps Your Car Accident Attorney Will Take to Build a Strong Case
Accident victims do not always realize how much time and effort is necessary to secure a fair settlement or verdict. Your attorney will diligently build the case you deserve and will:
- Identify who caused your rollover accident: Your lawyer will weigh all the facts and evidence from your accident and consult experts to determine who caused your vehicle to roll over. This step will be critical in determining liability for your accident-related damages.
- Obtain all available evidence: Witness testimony, video footage, photographs, and other evidence may be crucial to your case’s success. Your attorney will obtain such evidence as quickly as possible.
- Document your accident-related damages: Your legal team will secure any medical records, medical images, invoices for replacing your vehicle (which may likely be tolled after a rollover), proof of lost income, and all other documentation of accident-related damages.
- Calculate a fair settlement value: After they have considered both current and future damages, your lawyer will determine exactly how much compensation you are entitled to. Their settlement demands will be crafted to ensure you face no financial burden, now or later, because of your rollover accident.
- Negotiate a settlement: An insurance company or other party may be financially responsible for your accident-related damages. Your lawyer will present their documentation of your damages, explain their settlement demands, and insist that you receive a fair settlement.
- Complete any necessary lawsuit and trial: If you choose to file a lawsuit, your lawyer will complete final negotiations, discovery, and trial. Some cases settle even after a rollover accident lawyer files a lawsuit. Others lead all the way to trial. Your attorney will oversee every step of your case, regardless of how it ultimately concludes.
Your case will also require paperwork, communications, and many other responsibilities. Your attorney, their paralegals, experts, investigators, and support staff will take every duty off your hands.
Recoverable Damages Your Car Accident Lawyer Will Account For
No two rollover accident victims have the same damages. The physical injuries, psychological trauma, and financial expenses you suffer are unique to you, and your lawyer will shed light on the details of those damages.
Your lawyer will identify and document every form of harm resulting from your accident, which may include:
A New Vehicle
Most vehicles that roll over are totaled. Therefore, you may need a new vehicle, and your lawyer will determine the replacement cost of the totaled vehicle.
Your attorney will also demand fair compensation for any clothing, cell phones, and other property damaged during the rollover accident.
Healthcare Expenses
If you have yet to receive an extensive medical evaluation, you should seek care as soon as possible. To diagnose and treat accident-related injuries, you may need:
- X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and other medical images
- Emergency department care
- Hospital services
- Medications
- One or more surgeries
- Multiple doctors appointments
Medical care becomes expensive quickly, especially when someone suffers serious injuries (like those common to rollover accident victims). An attorney will work to ensure you don’t face the financial cost of your accident-related medical care.
Professional Damages
Being in a rollover accident can take a physical and psychological toll that:
- Prevents you from working temporarily
- Permanently disables you, preventing you from working for the remainder of your life
- Requires you to change jobs to accommodate disabilities
- Requires you to reduce your working hours due to pain or other symptoms
- Significantly reduces or eliminates your earning power
Attorneys always evaluate accident victims’ professional damages, and yours will.
Pain and Suffering
Your car accident lawyer will identify any pain and suffering resulting from your accident, which may include:
- Injury-related pain
- Chronic pain
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Lost quality of life
You may also need mental health services that aren’t free. Your lawyer will determine the cost of any counseling, medications, and other mental health services related to your rollover accident.
If you lost a loved one because of injuries suffered during a rollover accident, a lawyer can provide essential representation. They will fight for justice by seeking compensation for lost financial support, loss of consortium, funeral costs, and other harm resulting from the wrongful death.
How Much Is My Rollover Accident Case Worth?
Your lawyer will answer this question for you. They must consider:
- The extent of vehicle damage
- The details and severity of your injuries
- The timeline for your recovery
- The details and severity of your pain and suffering
- The specific cost of all accident-related damages
Your lawyer will determine exactly how much compensation you are entitled to and demand that liable parties pay you fairly.
What to Expect While Your Car Accident Lawyer Builds Your Case
Expect your car accident attorney to handle every aspect of your case; in the meantime, you:
- Can rest as your doctor recommends
- Can receive the treatment you need
- Will receive frequent updates from your lawyer
- Should contact your lawyer anytime you have a question or concern
Let your attorney take the lead in your case while you take the lead in recovery. Your case may have a strict filing window, so don’t wait to hire your lawyer.
David Abels
Partner
David Abels has carved a niche for himself in the personal injury law sector, dedicating a substantial part of his career since 1997 to representing victims of various accidents. With a law practice that spans over two decades, his expertise has been consistently recognized within the legal community.
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