Surviving a rollover accident can leave you with catastrophic injuries, mounting medical bills, and difficult questions about what caused the crash. Another driver may have forced you off the road. A dangerous shoulder or guardrail may have contributed. Or a vehicle defect may have made your injuries significantly worse.
An experienced rollover accident lawyer can investigate every potential cause and determine whether more than one party may be responsible.
At Mehta & McConnell, PLLC, our attorneys have more than 40 years of combined experience, including years spent defending insurance companies. We understand how insurers investigate and defend serious accident claims, and how to build a case that addresses the full story.
You can reach our lawyers at 980-326-2270.
Key Takeaways
- Rollovers are especially deadly. NHTSA reports they accounted for 28% of passenger-vehicle occupant fatalities in 2023, including 33% of SUV occupant fatalities and 38% of pickup occupant fatalities.
- More than one party may be responsible. A negligent driver may cause the rollover, while dangerous roadway conditions or a vehicle defect may make the injuries worse.
- A claim against an automaker may be possible. North Carolina allows defective-design claims when the statute’s requirements are met, and roof crush or Electronic Stability Control problems can be key evidence.
- Preserve the damaged vehicle. If a defect is suspected, engineers need to examine roof intrusion, structural components, restraint performance, and electronic data.
- Contributory negligence makes investigation critical. Insurers may point to speed, seat-belt use, or distraction, so a Charlotte rollover accident lawyer can gather the objective evidence needed to answer those claims.
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Why Rollover Accidents Require a Detailed Investigation
Rollovers are particularly dangerous crashes. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), rollovers accounted for 28% of passenger-vehicle occupant fatalities in 2023, including 33% of SUV occupant fatalities and 38% of pickup occupant fatalities.
A serious rollover on I-85, US-74, I-485, or another Charlotte-area roadway may involve several contributing factors, including:
- Speeding, impairment, distraction, or another driver’s unsafe maneuver;
- Dangerous shoulders, guardrails, construction zones, or roadway conditions;
- Tire or suspension failures;
- Electronic Stability Control (ESC) problems;
- Vehicle stability or design defects; and
- Roof or restraint-system defects that worsened an occupant’s injuries.
The key question is not always simply, What caused the vehicle to roll? It may also be, What caused the rollover to become so devastating?
How a Rollover Accident Lawyer Investigates Multiple Defendants
Consider an SUV traveling on I-485. Another driver cuts it off, causing the SUV to leave the roadway. It encounters a hazardous roadside condition, rolls, and the roof collapses into the passenger compartment.
Potential responsibility could extend beyond the driver who triggered the crash. Evidence from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) investigation may help establish how the collision occurred. Accident reconstruction expert witnesses in Charlotte, NC, may analyze skid marks, vehicle damage, electronic data, photographs, roadway geometry, and other physical evidence.
If road conditions contributed to the rollover, attorneys may also seek NCDOT roadway design, guardrail, construction, and maintenance records. The North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) provides additional traffic-safety resources addressing issues such as speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, and occupant protection.
Can a Rollover Claim Include an Automaker?
Yes, depending on the evidence. Under North Carolina’s product liability laws, a defective-design claim may be possible when a manufacturer acted unreasonably in designing a product, and that conduct proximately caused the person’s harm, provided the statute’s other requirements are satisfied. One potential method of proving such a case involves evidence of a safer, practical, feasible, and reasonable alternative design.
For someone seeking an SUV rollover accident lawyer in North Carolina, an important distinction is that different defendants can potentially be responsible for different parts of the event. A negligent driver could cause the rollover, while a defective vehicle component could worsen the resulting injuries.
Roof Crush and Vehicle Defect Evidence
Roof performance is especially important when rollover occupants suffer head, neck, or spinal cord injuries. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards establish roof-crush resistance requirements for covered vehicles. Certain vehicles weighing 6,000 pounds or less must withstand a test force of up to three times the vehicle’s unloaded weight under the federal testing procedure.
However, whether a particular vehicle was defective requires analysis of the specific vehicle and crash. Engineers may examine roof intrusion, structural components, occupant movement, restraint performance, and whether an alternative design could have reduced the injuries.
The damaged vehicle should therefore be preserved whenever a defect is suspected.
Electronic Stability Control Defects
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) can also become important. NHTSA explains that ESC is designed to detect loss-of-control situations and selectively apply braking to help the driver maintain directional control.
A vehicle rollover attorney in Charlotte, NC, may investigate diagnostic information, warning lights, recalls, service history, electronic data, and whether the ESC system functioned properly.
NHTSA vehicle safety ratings, rollover-resistance information, complaints, and recall records can provide additional investigative leads.
Serious Injuries and Long-Term Losses
Rollovers can expose occupants to repeated impacts, roof intrusion, broken glass, ejection forces, and violent movement inside the vehicle.
Common serious injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injuries,
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis,
- Multiple fractures,
- Internal-organ injuries,
- Crush injuries,
- Burns and amputations, and
- Permanent neurological impairment.
A serious rollover crash injury claim in Charlotte may therefore involve much more than existing medical bills. Future treatment, rehabilitation, reduced earning capacity, disability, pain, and long-term care can become significant issues.
If the rollover occurred while you were working, there may also be a workers’ compensation claim administered through the North Carolina Industrial Commission, potentially alongside a claim against a negligent third party.
North Carolina Contributory Negligence
North Carolina’s contributory negligence doctrine makes careful investigation especially important. In an ordinary negligence case, evidence that an injured person negligently contributed to the injury can create a significant barrier to recovery, subject to applicable exceptions and other legal doctrines.
Product liability cases also have statutory defenses. The law addresses circumstances in which a claimant’s failure to exercise reasonable care in using a product can prevent recovery against a manufacturer or seller.
Insurers may examine speed, seat-belt use, steering inputs, distraction, vehicle maintenance, and other conduct. Objective evidence can be critical to answering those allegations.
Talk to an Experienced Rollover Accident Lawyer in Charlotte
A catastrophic rollover should not automatically be treated as a routine car accident claim.
Mehta & McConnell attorneys Viral Mehta and Jason McConnell have more than 40 years of combined legal experience. Both are North Carolina State Bar board-certified practitioners of workers’ compensation law and previously represented employers and insurance companies. Clients work directly with attorneys rather than having their cases handed off to a paralegal or case manager.
If another driver, dangerous roadway conditions, a vehicle defect, or a combination of factors may have caused your injuries, Mehta & McConnell can investigate potential sources of liability and compensation.
Learn more from our Charlotte car accident lawyer page, or contact Mehta & McConnell, PLLC for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Causes Most Rollover Accidents in North Carolina, and Who Can Be Held Liable?
Rollovers can result from speeding, abrupt steering, collisions, roadway departures, shoulders or guardrails, tire failures, and vehicle-stability problems. Depending on the evidence, responsible parties may include another driver, a vehicle or component manufacturer, or an entity legally responsible for a dangerous roadway condition.
Can I Sue an Automaker If a Roof Crush Defect Worsened My Injuries In a Charlotte Rollover?
Potentially. North Carolina law allows defective-design claims when the requirements of the statute are established. These cases commonly require engineering, medical, and accident-reconstruction evidence connecting the alleged defect to worsened injuries.
How Is Fault Determined When a Rollover Accident Involves Both Driver Error and Road Conditions?
Attorneys and experts may analyze vehicle data, physical evidence, photographs, witness statements, road geometry, guardrails, maintenance records, and police findings to determine how each factor contributed to the rollover.
What Types of Serious Injuries Typically Result from Vehicle Rollovers?
Rollovers can cause traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, fractures, internal injuries, crush injuries, amputations, burns, and other permanent disabilities.
How Does North Carolina’s Contributory Negligence Rule Affect Rollover Accident Claims?
In an ordinary negligence case, contributory negligence can create a major obstacle to recovery if the injured person’s own negligence contributed to the injury, subject to applicable exceptions and other doctrines. Because the issue is highly fact-specific, a serious rollover should be investigated before conclusions about fault are made.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal resources during the content development process.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – Traffic Safety Crash Report 2023
- North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program
- N.C.G.S. § 99B-6 – Defective design
- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard FMVSS No. 216a
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – Initiatives to address mitigation of rollovers
- NC Industrial Commission – Workers’ compensation claim
- N.C.G.S. § 99B-4 – Product liability: knowledge or reasonable care