A young man from St. Joseph was killed in a single-vehicle car accident after his vehicle left the road and rolled over. The crash showcases how serious rollover accidents can be.
Car Accident Kills St. Joseph Man
The crash happened at about 1:30 in the morning on Saturday, December 10, 2016. The 25-year-old driver, whose name was not released, was driving northbound through Platte County on Route P. North of the intersection with Lamar Road, about 20 miles south of St. Joseph, the driver lost control of his vehicle. After he left the roadway, the car tipped and rolled over.
While the cause of the accident is still under investigation, it is possible that winter weather may have been a factor.
Types of Rollover Accidents
While all car accidents have the potential to cause serious injuries, rollover accidents – those that involve the vehicle tipping onto its side or roof, or completely over – are especially dangerous.
There are two different types of rollover accidents: Tripped and untripped.
Tripped rollovers happen when something outside the vehicle causes it to tip over, like a curb or guardrail, or a collision with another car, or a ditch off the side of the road. Untripped rollovers happen without this outside influence. The most common untripped rollovers happen when a driver takes a turn too fast and the road is slippery, causing the vehicle to skid and then tip into the turn.
Rollover Accidents are Severe
Regardless of how the rollover occurred, these accidents frequently lead to serious injuries.
One reason why rollovers are dangerous is the speed that often causes them. According to data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly three-quarters of rollover accidents happened on high speed roads. 40% of them involved excessive speeding. The increased force involved in a high-speed accident causes serious injuries, itself.
However, when a car rolls over, the driver and passengers inside the vehicle get thrown around. When they were not wearing their seatbelts, the severity of the injuries they can suffer grows. Worse, they can be ejected from the vehicle and into the scene of the crash, where they have no protection.
Finally, when a car rolls over, it strains the vehicle’s roll cage and roof pillars. If these give way under the weight of the car, the occupants can suffer severe injuries to their heads, backs, and necks.
In total, rollover accidents take the lives of more than 10,000 people every year.
St. Joseph Car Accident Attorneys at the Smith Law Office
There are a lot of factors that can cause a serious car accident. The driver is only one of them. Car defects, poorly-designed roads, or environmental dangers like wild animals can all cause a crash.
If you get involved in a car crash in or near St. Joseph, Missouri, the personal injury and car accident attorneys at the Smith Law Office can fight to show it wasn’t your fault, and that you deserve compensation for the injuries you suffered. Contact us online or at (816) 875-9373.