SUV Rollover Accidents on Bexar County Curves

An SUV rollover is a crash in which a vehicle tips onto its side or roof, and it produces some of the most catastrophic injuries seen on any road. Our San Antonio auto accident lawyers handle rollover cases because they seldom have a single, tidy cause — a tall, top-heavy SUV, a curve taken too fast, a tire that failed, or a roof that crushed on impact can each turn a survivable wreck into a fatal one. On the winding roads that ring Bexar County — Bandera Road, Highway 16, the FM roads out toward the Hill Country, and the tight ramps of Loop 1604 — those factors line up more often than drivers expect. More here: https://www.carabinshaw.com/auto-accidents.html

SUVs and pickups carry a higher center of gravity than passenger cars, which makes them far more prone to tipping in a sudden turn or swerve. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has long documented that SUVs roll over at higher rates than cars — the agency’s vehicle safety data is available through NHTSA. When a rollover happens at speed on a curve, the people inside face roof crush, ejection, and violent forces that seat belts and airbags can only partly counter.

Because a rollover can stem from driver conduct, a vehicle defect, or a road hazard, pinning down the cause is the first step to knowing who should pay for it.

What Causes SUV Rollovers

Rollovers usually result from a combination of factors rather than one mistake. The causes our attorneys investigate include:

• Speed on curves. Taking a Bexar County curve too fast shifts the vehicle’s weight to the outside wheels and tips a top-heavy SUV.
• Tire failure. A blowout, especially on a rear tire, can throw an SUV sideways into a roll.
• Being struck or run off the road. Another driver’s negligence can trip a rollover even when the SUV driver did nothing wrong.
• Design and stability defects. Some models are more rollover-prone than others, and a defective design may be to blame.
• Roof crush. A roof too weak to hold up turns a single roll into a catastrophe.
• Overloading and improper loading. Extra weight up high raises the tipping risk.

Who Can Be Held Responsible

Responsibility for a rollover depends on what caused it. If another driver forced your SUV off the road or struck it, that driver is liable. If a defective tire or an unstable design contributed, the manufacturer may be responsible under Texas products liability law. If a weak roof made the injuries worse, the automaker may face a crashworthiness claim for the enhanced harm — the added injury the defect caused beyond the crash itself. Investigating every angle protects your recovery, because rollover injuries are severe enough that a single insurance policy rarely covers them.

Why the Vehicle Has to Be Preserved

A rollover claim often turns on the SUV itself. An engineer examining the vehicle can determine whether a tire failed, whether the roof crushed beyond acceptable limits, and whether a stability defect played a role. Once the vehicle is repaired or sent to salvage, that proof is gone for good.

Our San Antonio car accident attorneys work to secure the vehicle and bring in the right experts, and a former police officer on our investigation team can document the scene, the road geometry, and the crash dynamics. Together, that evidence separates a driver’s account from a provable claim against a manufacturer.

The Injuries Rollovers Cause

Rollover survivors often face spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, crushed limbs, and permanent disability, and families sometimes face the loss of a loved one. Ejection — when an occupant is thrown from the vehicle during the roll — dramatically raises the risk of death, which is why seat-belt use and roof strength matter so much in these cases.

What Texas Law Allows You to Recover

A recovery can include medical expenses, lifelong future care, lost income, diminished earning capacity, property damage, and pain and suffering, along with wrongful death and survival claims where a rollover proved fatal. Where a defect caused or worsened the injuries, exemplary damages may apply. Because rollover cases pair severe, permanent injuries with physical evidence that disappears when the vehicle is scrapped, they reward early, thorough investigation more than almost any other crash.

Talk to Our San Antonio Car Accident Lawyers