A single-vehicle car accident in St. Joseph left one man in serious but non-life-threatening condition. Initial reports say that he was driving on the highway when he lost control of his car, which rolled over numerous times before coming to a rest.
Rollover Car Accident Leads to Serious Injuries
The incident happened on the afternoon of Sunday, January 8, 2017. A man was driving his Nissan Sentra eastbound on Highway 36, away from downtown St. Joseph when he lost control of his vehicle. The car left the highway at the overpass above South 28th Street in eastern St. Joseph and rolled down the embankment. The vehicle finally came to a rest near the intersection of South 28th and Hilltop Streets, sustaining significant damage over most of its body.
The driver of the vehicle was rushed to Mosaic Life Care with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
It’s unclear if the accident was weather related, though there was no precipitation before the crash occurred on Sunday.
The Dangers of Rollover Accidents
Rollover accidents are some of the most serious car accidents possible, though this is due at least in part to the fact that they typically only occur in high-speed situations.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately three out of every four fatal rollover accidents occurred on roads that had speed limits of 55 miles per hour or higher. Excessive speeding was also a factor in 40% of these fatal rollover crashes. At these speeds, the force of any car accident is enough to inflict serious or fatal injuries on anyone involved.
However, it’s not just the high speeds that often create rollover accidents that make them dangerous. When a vehicle rolls over, the driver and any other occupants inside it get jostled around. This is especially true if they are not wearing their seatbelts. Unrestrained occupants can even be ejected from a vehicle that’s rolling over, causing serious injuries when they land. Worse, being ejected from a rolling vehicle puts you in harm’s way by leaving you at the scene of an ongoing car crash without the protections of a car surrounding you.
Together, these dangers make rollover accidents some of the most severe car accidents that can happen. Out of all of the auto accidents that happened in 2010, only 2.1% of them involved a rollover. However, those rollover accidents accounted for nearly 35% of car accident fatalities that year.
St. Joseph Car Accident Attorneys at the Smith Law Office
Car accidents that involve a rollover are serious, and can lead to significant and costly personal injuries. However, even if you were the only vehicle involved in the crash, it may not have been your fault. Car defects can cause a car to flip and roll, or can make the injuries that you suffer much worse than they should have been.
The personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office in St. Joseph know this, and conduct their own investigation into your accident to see what really happened. This can mean the difference between bearing the cost of your recovery and getting the compensation that you need and deserve.
Contact our law office online or at (816) 875-9373.