A weekend rollover resulted in two people being admitted to UMASS Memorial Medical Center with serious injuries. An accident reconstruction team is still investigating, but Massachusetts State Police have indicated that the mid-day crash occurred on I-290 West and involved only one vehicle.
While single-car accidents seem like they are the fault of the driver, this is not always the case. Rollovers are often the result of automobile design defects, giving the vehicle an unwanted propensity to lose stability and roll onto its side. Routine maneuvers that a motor vehicle should be able to safely perform, such as hard braking or evasive swerving, can cause a potentially fatal rollover if the vehicle’s design wasn’t created with safety oriented engineering.
Another cause of rollover may be defective tires. When traveling at high speeds on expressways such as on I-290 or I-190, a tire blowout can cause a sudden loss of control over the vehicle, resulting in the auto flipping or rolling over. Such car accidents can mangle steel doors and crush roofs, causing back and neck injuries, paralysis, brain and head injuries, or even death.
A single-car accident can also occur through the fault of another driver. Just because only one vehicle crashes doesn’t mean another isn’t to blame. When a reckless, speeding or drunk-driving motorist causes another driver to choose between a two-car collision or an evasive maneuver, the innocent driver often has little instinctive choice but to avoid the two-car accident.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car accident, it is crucial to get representation from an experienced personal injury attorney. A knowledgeable lawyer knows how to prove fault and will refuse to be intimidated by big insurance companies.
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette, “Two injured in I-290 rollover” May 7, 2011.
