New Jersey SUV Rollover Accidents
Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are popular with families and businesses because they offer more seating, cargo and towing capacity than most passenger cars. Most people believe SUVs are also safer than ordinary cars due to their size. However, SUVs are more likely than other vehicles to roll over when they are involved in a single-vehicle accident. In fact, crashes, collisions and solo-vehicle accidents involving SUV rollovers are one of the most dangerous types of motor vehicle accidents.
Rollovers can be caused by a number of defects, including overall stability issues, poorly designed suspension systems and even defective tires. When an auto defect causes an accident or makes an accident worse, the manufacturer of the motor vehicle or the auto part should be held accountable for the serious injuries or fatalities that result. Newark rollover accident lawyer Dan Matrafajlo has represented numerous rollover accident victims in product liability claims. If you have suffered a serious injury or lost a loved one in a Newark rollover accident, attorney Dan Matrafajlo can help you recover the monetary compensation you and your family are entitled to.
Rollover Accidents and Product Liability Issues
Many rollover accidents are attributable to flaws in the design of SUVs. Sport utility vehicles have a high center of gravity and narrow wheelbase, making them more prone to overturn when they come in contact with a curb, soft shoulder or when a tire blows out or suddenly deflates. A phenomenon called “roof crush” can be blamed for many rollover accident fatalities. When a vehicle overturns, if the vehicle’s roof is simply not strong enough to support its weight, it can crush occupants to death in an instant. The federal government intends to require vehicle manufacturers to make roofs strong enough to withstand pressure up to three times the curb weight of the vehicle. However, this does nothing to protect drivers of older vehicles already on the road. If an injury or death was caused by roof crush or defective design, victims of SUV rollover accidents may be entitled to compensation for their injuries from the manufacturer of the vehicle that caused the accident.
Rollover Accidents and Wrongful Death Claims
An estimated 10,000 people die every year in rollover crashes in the United States. Many fatalities are attributable to passenger ejection when an occupant is thrown from the vehicle during a rollover accident. If a defective design or defective auto part (such as tires or brakes) caused or contributed to a fatal SUV rollover accident, family members may be entitled to compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit.
Contact a Newark SUV Rollover Injury Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in an SUV rollover accident, it is crucial that you contact an experienced injury lawyer immediately. Newark SUV rollover injury attorney Dan Matrafajlo will aggressively fight to ensure compensation for hospital bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress or other financial damages. For a free consultation with New Jersey SUV rollover injury attorney Dan Matrafajlo, please call (908) 248-4404. We will work hard to achieve the best result allowed by the law and the facts of your case. We charge no fee unless and until we recover compensation for you.
The manufacturer of the vehicle or the specific defective part — such as the tire manufacturer, if a tire defect caused the rollover, or the vehicle manufacturer, if a design flaw like poor stability or inadequate roof strength was responsible — can potentially be held liable through a product liability claim, separate from any claims against another driver.
Yes. Many rollover accidents are single-vehicle accidents, and the absence of another driver doesn't eliminate liability — if a design or manufacturing defect caused or worsened the rollover, the claim shifts from driver negligence to product liability against the manufacturer.
Driver error (such as excessive speed or an abrupt steering maneuver) may still combine with a vehicle's design vulnerabilities to cause a rollover — the two aren't mutually exclusive. An investigation into vehicle stability data, tire condition, and crash dynamics is often necessary to determine whether a defect contributed to the accident or its severity, even if driver error was also a factor.
When a vehicle overturns, occupants who aren't properly restrained can be thrown from the vehicle, often resulting in catastrophic injury or death — ejection is one of the primary reasons rollover accidents carry a disproportionately high fatality rate compared to other types of crashes.
Yes. If a defective vehicle design or defective auto part — such as tires, suspension, or brakes — caused or contributed to a fatal rollover accident, surviving family members may be entitled to compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer, in addition to any claims against a negligent driver.
Key evidence often includes the vehicle's crash data recorder ("black box") information, tire condition and manufacturing history, prior recall or complaint records for the same make and model, roof crush measurements, and expert reconstruction of the accident to determine whether a defect caused or worsened the rollover.
Compensation can include hospital bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other financial damages — and because product liability claims involve manufacturers rather than individual drivers, they can sometimes result in significantly larger recoveries given the scope of a defect's impact.
An experienced attorney typically works with accident reconstruction experts, engineers, and sometimes former auto industry specialists to analyze the vehicle, tires, and crash data to establish whether a defect caused or contributed to the rollover — this technical investigation is a core part of building a product liability case.
