Roof Crush - Rollover Accidents

by David P. Willis - Attorney at Law

Everyday severe roof crush and roof collapse injuries occur in rollover accidents across America. These roof crush failures are the result of defective roof systems. Roof crush studies clearly show that weak roof pillar failure and roof supports result in severe roof crush injuries and death. When a roof crushes during a rollover crash accident the vehicle roof system can collapse and cause massive roof intrusion to the driver and passenger. Even with seatbelts, some can not withstand the violent forces of a roof crushing onto their head and spinal cord without resulting paralysis, paraplegia, quadriplegia and death.

Roof Crush Injuries

Such roof crush intrusion injuries can cause bursting fractures to C-4, C-5, CV-6 and C-7 cervical vertebrae. A roof crush induced bursting fracture results in a loss of intra-vertebral space both anterior and posterior. In severe roof crush cases the victim can be trapped between the roof and the seat or between the roof and the roof pillar. In some case the victim can suffocate to death as a result of positional asphyxia from the roof crushing and trapping them.

Other roof crush related injuries can result from too much slack in the seat belt causing the occupant to dive into the roof also resulting in paralysis, head injures and death. This type of diving injury into the roof can occur in even minimum to moderate roof crush collapses. Seat belt slack induced injuries or impacts with the roof or pillars can be minimized greatly by the inclusion of seat belts with pre-tensioners that reducing the amount of slack in the seatbelt preventing the occupant from diving into the roof or hitting other objects.

Automakers for years have argued that most roof crush injuries are the resulting of diving into the roof due to unrestrained occupants or those that wear the belts too loose. Even in sever roof crush failures, the automakers will defend themselves by trying to prove the occupant was injured before the roof intruded or crushed down into the safety zone. The reason for such a defense is because there is no federal safety standard for seatbelt performance during a rollover crash. Roof crush studies however are clear to show that people do sustain serious head and spinal cord injuries when the roofs crush into and down on their spinal cords as opposed to the roof crush happening after the injuries have occurred. Publicly the automakers still argue this defense, but internal documents of Ford and Volvo discuss the dangers of roof crush intrusion. Unlike many other SUV, trucks, vans and other cars, the Volvo XC90 has a roof that hardly crushes during a rollover.

Roof Crush = Lack of Roof Strength

A weak roof structure and a rollover do not mix. Often in rollovers involving SUVs pickup trucks and vans, the roof strength of the roof can mean the surviving the rollover unhurt or sustaining life changing injuries or death. This is especially true in the larger and heavier model SUVs including the Chevrolet Suburban, Ford Explorer, Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Ford Excursion, Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, Toyota Sequoia, Ford 150, Ford F250, Ford F350 pickup truck. The weak roof structure of these heavy trucks and SUVs usually will not hold up in a rollover accident without serious roof crush intrusion and roof pillar collapse.

Roof Crush Resistance Safety Standard

NHTSA is planning to release a new Federal Safety Standard regarding roof strength in June of 2006. NHTSA has indicted that the current FMVSS 216 will only be improved slightly and probably will have little effect on safety of the occupants and prevention of roof crush injuries. Currently most vehicles already meet this unsafe standard, so any new "safety" improvement in roof crush resistance is propaganda. In fact it has been estimated that the new and "improved" standard will probably prevent 50 roof crush deaths each year verses the 10,000+ roof crush death cases already on the books each year.

Free Roof Crush & Rollover Lawsuit Evaluation

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured or a loved one has killed in a rollover or roof crush accident and you believe that the design or defect in the roof pillar, roof header or roof design may have caused or contributed to the injuries or losses, then e-mail us your questions and concerns on our Free Online Case Evaluation Form or call Toll Free and talk to a lawyer at 1-800-883-9858. Nationwide Help is Available!