You might know about some of the ways you can wreck a car while driving it. Even if you’re a responsible and defensive driver, you never know when you’ll encounter an intoxicated motorist, a speeder, or any other situation that can cause a car wreck. All you can do is hope for the best every time you get out on America’s roadways.
Rollover accidents retain the top spot as one of the kinds that cause the most fatalities, along with head-to-head collisions. 2021 saw 7,640 rollover car accident deaths, and that number holds steady most years.
You should know about rollover accidents if you drive frequently. In this article, we’ll talk about some of the most common rollover accident causes, some of the consequences you might face if this happens, and also some prevention techniques.
What Frequently Causes Rollover Accidents?
Getting a car to roll over isn’t easy under most normal conditions. After all, we’re talking about a multiple-ton vehicle in most instances. Getting it from stable and right side up to rolling over once or multiple times requires some serious impact.
Sometimes, if a car rolls over, it’s because it fell from somewhere higher to somewhere lower. For instance, a car that rolls down an embankment on a highway might do several rotations before finally coming to rest.
Reckless driving can cause rollover accidents. Cars rolling down embankments might happen if a driver tries to talk on their smartphone or text on it while traveling at a high speed on the highway. Nudging a vehicle and causing it to roll down a slope might happen if a driver veers out of their lane unexpectedly.
Environmental conditions like rainstorms, snow, and ice can certainly cause these kinds of accidents, but usually, you can blame human error. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says that rollover accidents involving trucks can point to human error as their cause nearly 80% of the time.
Speeding can certainly play a part. Distractions like billboards or driver fatigue might also become an important factor. Most times, someone either rolls their car over or hits another vehicle and causes a rollover if they make a mistake behind the wheel.
Some Possible Results When Cars Roll Over
When a car rolls over, you have a much higher chance of a serious injury or fatality than you’ll see with the average fender bender. That makes sense when you think about what’s happening.
When a car rolls over, those revolutions can cause your body to collide with the metal cage surrounding you. You might wear a seatbelt, but you can still hit your head on the roof, against the steering wheel, or against the door beside you if you’re flying through the air and changing positions rapidly.
This violent movement can break your neck, cause a traumatic brain injury, or fracture various bones. You might sustain lacerations or contusions. In short, you might walk away unharmed if you’re very lucky, but serious injuries occur in these types of accidents with regularity.
Even if you walk away without a scratch, maybe you totaled your car. Any vehicle that rolls over will probably suffer thousands of dollars in damage. You might see cars after a rollover that look like they’ve gone through a crusher at a junkyard.
Also, you might see your insurance premiums shoot through the roof after one of these accidents. Even if you can convince your insurance company that you didn’t cause the wreck, they might not like your explanation. They may feel if it happened once, it can happen again. You’re probably looking at paying more every month to get the same insurance in the accident’s aftermath.
Ways to Prevent Rollover Accidents
Earlier, we mentioned how you can’t control what other drivers do around you. If you’re unlucky and run into a driver who’s not paying attention, speeding, or doing something else unsafe, you must hope you get through the wreck without major damage. However, there’s little you can do when facing what amounts to a completely random chance.
You can do some things to prevent causing such an accident, though. Since human error often plays a part in these situations, you can avoid doing any of the dangerous things we mentioned earlier.
Don’t use your smartphone while you’re driving. Many times in the modern era, investigators after fatal car wrecks find someone using their cell phone played a part. Keep your phone in your pocket and don’t use it till you get to your destination and turn the vehicle’s engine off.
Do not let billboards distract you. Don’t change the radio station or try to find a particular song you like on your playlist while you’re driving. If you’re driving with other individuals in the car, don’t let them distract you, either. Keep your eyes on the road ahead and take your responsibilities as a motorist seriously.
You should also never drive after you’ve consumed alcohol or ingested any other type of drug. Marijuana legalization in some states means you’ll see more individuals on the road after smoking or ingesting edibles. If you live in a state where you can legally do these things, never drive after you’ve indulged.
Additional Ways to Prevent These Accidents
You can also try to stay off the road if you know there’s dangerous weather coming your way. If you must drive, then do it, but stick to the speed limit.
In driving rain or snow, you should even go under the speed limit, especially if you’re on the highway. You might reach your destination a bit later than usual, but at least you will get there safely, along with your passengers.
If you keep in mind the possible consequences if your car rolls over, you should know what’s at stake when you get behind the wheel. Any time you see an overturned vehicle on the highway, let that remind you. You have it in your power to avoid many of these kinds of accidents.
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
