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Rollover accidents are statistically the most serious types of crashes. They can result in grave head injuries and deaths, especially when the occupant of a vehicle is ejected. This week, rollover accidents in Norfolk were starkly illustrated when two cars flipped on Colley Avenue.
Both accidents occurred within 48 hours of each other. On Friday night, an SUV flipped over in the middle of the street at the intersection between Colley Avenue and 46th Street. A male occupant of the SUV was transported to a local hospital. His injuries were described as non-life-threatening.
The previous day, a vehicle flipped over in the 100 block of Colley Avenue and blocked W. Princess Anne Road to Westover Avenue for more than an hour. Two women were trapped inside the vehicle after the rollover crash. Firefighters freed both of the women who were taken to a local hospital suffering from non-life-threatening injuries.
The causes of both of these rollover accidents are being investigated by police. Both crashes appear to have been single-vehicle accidents.
The majority of rollover accidents involve just one vehicle. The injuries sustained in these accidents are often life-threatening.
About 85 percent of rollover crashes in Virginia are single-vehicle wrecks. A driver often loses control of his or her vehicle at an intersection or on an exit ramp. In other cases, a rollover accident may follow a sideswipe impact. A driver tries to take evasive action as another driver makes an improper lane change and flips a car.
A driver is frequently at fault for a rollover accident. He or she may have been traveling too fast for conditions or was drunk, tired or distracted. Passengers are often the victims of these accidents. If you have been injured in a rollover accident as a passenger or a loved one has lost their life, there may be grounds to sue the driver.
Yes. According to SaferCar.gov, about 40 percent of deadly rollover crashes involved excessive speeding. Another three-quarters of fatal rollovers took place where the posted speed limit on the road was 55 miles per hour or higher.
The cause of a rollover accident in Norfolk will depend on the type of road conditions at the time. Drivers on urban roads like Colley Avenue will likely to traveling considerably slower than drivers on I-64 or I-264. However, rollover accidents may occur at slower speeds, in particular when motorists collide at intersections or suddenly change lanes.
Rollover accidents are most often seen in Norfolk when:
1 A driver fails to slow down sufficiently on a curve or a ramp to an interstate;
2 A driver drifts across a highway and quickly overcorrects;
3 The driver is distracted and causes an accident;
4 A fatigued driver falls asleep and goes off the roadway;
5 Vehicles collide at an intersection;
6 High winds tip over a high sided vehicle
Rollover accidents are more likely on rural highways. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports rural roads are more likely to see rollover wrecks because they are usually undivided and lack safety barriers. Rollover accidents on country roads are more likely to prove fatal. About three-quarters of fatal rollovers are seen in where the posted speed limit is usually 55 miles per hour or higher. Rollover accidents in which a motorist is ejected see the most serious injuries. Often these victims did not wear a safety belt.
SUVs and pickup trucks are more likely to roll over in an accident because they are high sided. Vehicle design has improved in recent years. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the rollover driver-death fatality among newer passenger vehicles three years old and less dropped from 27 in 2000 to 6 in 2012.
At Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers, we help people who have been injured in car wrecks in the City of Norfolk and surrounding locations like Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Hampton. We have represented many people who suffered terrible injuries in rollover crashes. Please call us today for a free and confidential consultation at (757) 455-0077.