Rollover accidents are extremely hazardous and can result in severe injuries. In fact, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that rollover motor vehicle accidents account for almost a third of all highway crash fatalities. Because the roof of a car can collapse as it rolls, occupants are at risk for serious head injuries. Also, if the car lands upside down or on its side, it can be difficult for occupants to be extracted from the crushed vehicle. The Michigan rollover accident lawyers at the Lee Steinberg Law Firm specialize in these horrible cases.
Any vehicle can roll over onto its side or back, but larger vehicles, such as SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans, roll over more often due to their higher centers of gravity. Because they are more top-heavy, they can tip over when rounding curves too quickly or when their tires encounter an obstacle.
Rollover Car Accidents and Michigan Law
Rollover accidents in Michigan are covered by the Michigan no-fault law. This law is confusing and requires an injured person to seek payment for medical care and lost wages from their own car insurance company. The negligent driver is responsible for paying only pain and suffering unless the injured person’s PIP coverage is exhausted.
In most situations, an injured person can still make a claim for Michigan no-fault PIP benefits even if they do not have car insurance. An experienced Michigan rollover accident lawyer can help you go through your situation and find out which auto insurance company will pay your claims.
If you were in a rollover car accident and want to understand your legal options, please contact our Michigan car accident lawyers at 1-800-LEE-FREE today for a free and confidential consultation.
Rollover Crash Statistics
- In 2023, more than 6,700 passengers died in the United States in rollover accidents.
- Contact with another object was a cause in 77% of all rollover accidents.
- Crashes in which a vehicle rolled over accounted for 28% of all passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2023
- In 2023, rollover crashes accounted for 21% of occupant deaths in cars, 38% of occupant deaths in pickups, and 34% of occupant deaths in SUVs.
- Since 1978, driver death rates for single-vehicle rollover crashes have declined across all passenger vehicle types, particularly among larger vehicles. This is due to stronger vehicle construction (especially roofs) and improved restraint systems, like seatbelts and airbags.
Pursuing Compensation after a Michigan Rollover Collision
Regardless of the severity of your injuries, you are entitled to pursue the compensation that you are entitled to under the law. After an accident, it is crucial to seek prompt medical attention for all injuries. Doing so will also establish a record of medical treatment for insurance claims.
When another driver is at fault, our team of Michigan rollover accident lawyers will help you pursue a liability claim against the responsible party for recovery of your economic damages and ongoing pain and suffering.
At the Lee Steinberg Law Firm, we can also ensure you have enough money for future medical treatment and expenses through a life care plan. This may be especially important after a serious rollover accident that results in future medical treatment. Our dedicated team of Michigan car crash lawyers works diligently to collect evidence and build a strong case for your car accident. We take all the necessary depositions, hire the correct experts, and ensure the insurance company pays top dollar.
How Much Time Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After a Rollover?
There is a limited timeframe to file a lawsuit following a rollover accident in Michigan. This is referred to as the statute of limitations. In most situations, for a negligence case, a person has three (3) years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit in court against the proper defendants. If a lawsuit is not filed within that time, the injured person, or plaintiff, forever loses their right to obtain monetary compensation for their injuries.
It is essential to consult with a Michigan rollover injury attorney following a crash to have your questions answered and protect your rights.
Types of Rollover Crashes
There are several types of rollover crashes. One of the most common scenarios is when a car flips over due to colliding with another vehicle or object. Other common types of rollover accidents include:
- Bounce-over: When a vehicle rebounds off a fixed object and consequently overturns
- Turn-over: This is caused by taking a corner at a high speed. Centrifugal forces from the sharp turn or vehicle rotation are resisted by normal surface friction.
- Fall-over: When the surface on which the vehicle is traversing slopes downward in the direction of movement of the vehicle’s center of gravity (COG) such that the COG becomes outboard of its wheels (this means that the center of gravity is tipped outside of the rectangle formed by the four wheels).
- Climb-over: When the vehicle climbs up and over an object (e.g., guardrail, barrier) that is high enough to lift the vehicle completely off the ground
- End-over-end: When a vehicle rolls primarily about its lateral axis after crashing with a concrete barrier.
Factors in Rollover Crashes
- Speed. In 2023, 21,535 crashes in Michigan involved drivers speeding.
- Alcohol: In 2023, 8,818 crashes involved alcohol according to the Michigan State Police.
- Weather conditions: Over 20,000 accidents occurred in 2023 during winter weather conditions.
- Defective suspension systems: If a suspension system malfunctions, it can cause the vehicle to lose contact with the ground when navigating a curve. This can cause rollover accidents in cars with a high center of gravity, such as SUVs.
- Tire blowouts: According to the NHTSA, there were 738 fatalities in the United States in 2022 because of tire blowouts. Any blowout can cause a driver to lose control of a vehicle, potentially leading to a rollover accident.
- Inattentive drivers: In 2023, 3,275 people lost their lives in accidents caused by distracted or inattentive driving. A driver who is not paying attention to the road can easily lose control of their vehicle, causing a rollover accident.
- Poor road conditions: Single vehicle rollover accidents are mainly caused by the car “tripping” on something, such as a soft shoulder, curb, or pothole. Not all roads in Michigan are as well-maintained as they should be.
Types of Rollover Car Accident Injuries
Neck and spine injuries: A spinal cord injury usually involves swelling of the spinal cord that affects the whole body. When the swelling subsides, the patient may regain function. Still, it is rare for all functions to be fully recovered, even months or years after the injury. Treatment presently consists of stabilizing any broken vertebrae, maintaining the patient, preventing movement to the injured area, and reducing swelling.
Traumatic brain injuries: Traumatic brain injury, also called TBI, occurs when the brain is injured by a sudden force or trauma. The brain can be driven into the side of the skull by a sudden blow, or by the force of shaking or whiplash. When this occurs, the brain can suffer bruising and swelling. In some cases, the impact may be sufficient to tear blood vessels in the brain, resulting in intracranial bleeding.
Broken bones: A broken bone is a break or fracture of the continuity of the bone itself. There are various types of broken or fractured bones, including closed (simple) fractures and open (compound) fractures. A closed fracture occurs when the skin remains intact. In contrast, an open fracture involves a wound caused by a fractured bone that punctures the surrounding skin.
Loss of limb: Traumatic amputations can occur in rollover accidents, especially when the occupant of the vehicle is partially ejected and is crushed by the vehicle.
PTSD: People who have been involved in severe traffic accidents, like rollovers, are often left with psychiatric disorders, such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) or post-concussive syndrome. The NIH reports that 6-25% of children and adolescents and 39.2% of adult survivors out of the estimated 6 million vehicle accidents in the U.S. each year end up developing PTSD.
Types of Car Insurance Covering Michigan Rollover Accident Claims
In Michigan, a basic auto insurance policy consists of three parts: personal injury protection (PIP), personal property protection (PPI), and residual liability insurance, which covers bodily injury and property damage.
Residual Bodily Liability Insurance:
Residual bodily injury (BI) insurance protects the driver if they are found to have caused the crash. This is the insurance protection in case you injure someone in an accident. The minimum coverage generally provides up to $250,000 for a person who is hurt or killed, and $500,000 per accident. However, a motorist can opt for $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident by selecting this amount of coverage and signing certain documents.
Due to the change in the Michigan no-fault law, at-fault drivers and vehicle owners can be held responsible not only for the pain and suffering caused by a rollover accident but also for hospital bills, all medical costs, lost wages, and other significant expenses. As a result, all drivers need to purchase as much bodily injury insurance coverage as they can afford.
PIP (Personal Injury Protection) Insurance:
Under Michigan law, a motorist is responsible for insuring their own vehicle. When they purchase insurance, they must also purchase personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. This insurance is also known as no-fault insurance. In basic terms, PIP coverage covers the medical expenses that arise out of a truck or car accident.
For decades, all Michigan insurance policies carried unlimited PIP coverage. However, beginning in 2020, car owners could select the amount of PIP coverage they wanted, depending on their eligibility requirements. For most drivers, the minimum amount of PIP coverage that must be purchased is $250,000. Besides medical coverage, PIP coverage also includes payment for lost wages and household replacement services for up to three years.
Our state’s unusual no-fault system is often confusing for people who have never made a claim. When you add this to the stress and trauma of a car accident, things can spiral out of control very quickly. Contact a Michigan rollover accident lawyer to get more information about no-fault benefits.
Property Damage:
PPI pays up to $1 million in damage a vehicle causes to another person’s property, including buildings and surroundings like fences and landscaping. It also covers damage to parked cars. It does not cover damage to a vehicle resulting from a collision.
Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) Coverage
Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays for pain and suffering, as well as sometimes outstanding medical bills, when an accident is caused by an uninsured driver. This coverage is not mandatory. However, because many Michigan drivers are uninsured, with some areas having an uninsured rate above 35%, UM coverage is a very smart purchase.
Uninsured motorist coverage (UIM) pays for pain and suffering and other things caused by an underinsured at-fault driver. For example, a person is injured in a rollover accident in Detroit, and the negligent driver only had $50,000 minimum policy. But the injured person had their own insurance policy and carried $250,000 in UIM coverage. If the injury is worth $250,000, then the injured person can obtain the $50,000 policy from the negligent driver’s insurance company, and then get $200,000 ($250,000 – $50,000 already received) from their own insurance company.
Rollover Crashes Resulting in Death
When someone is killed in a car accident, surviving family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit. The compensation received from a wrongful death suit can include costs for funeral and burial, medical bills, lost wages, loss of companionship for the survivors, as well as pain and suffering.
What Happens to the Occupants in a Rollover Crash?
Occupants injured in rollover crashes (ROC) are categorized into 4 groups:
1. The driver and/or passengers may be injured by the collapse of the roof. If this happens, the roof can collapse inwards and crush the occupants, particularly injuring their heads and spines.
2. Occupants can be severely injured or even killed by being completely ejected from the vehicle as it rolls.
3. Occupants can be injured by being partially ejected from the vehicle as it rolls.
4. Occupants can be injured by being thrown around inside the vehicle, hitting the sides of the car, and each other.
The Best Michigan Rollover Injury Lawyers
Rollover accidents are frightening. Often, they can be life-changing incidents. In such situations, you require a skilled and experienced lawyer.
The Lee Steinberg Law Firm has resolved thousands of car and truck injury cases. Vehicle safety has advanced, but the primary cause of car accidents, including the dangerous rollover collision, is still operator error. Our expert Michigan rollover accident attorneys are familiar with the causes of these types of accidents and the insurance companies frequently involved.
Our job is to maximize your recovery in every circumstance. We will do what it takes to resolve your auto accident case through settlement, mediation, or trial for the maximum amount allowed under Michigan law.
Talk to the Lee Steinberg Law Firm about obtaining Michigan no-fault benefits, getting help filing a car accident claim, and seeking the full compensation you deserve. Regardless of the complexity of your case, we will work diligently to achieve the best possible outcome.
Please call Lee Free at 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-866-511-0594) or fill out the Free Case Evaluation Form. And remember, you pay nothing until we settle your case.