A teenager who suffered serious injuries when a Toyota 4Runner rolled over was recently awarded $6.9 million dollars by a jury in federal court in Jones County. The case serves as a tragic reminder of the danger of defective SUVs that are prone to rollover. The teenager suffered spinal cord injuries that left him paralyzed from the waist down after the rollover crash.
An expert for the plaintiff in the rollover over accident lawsuit testified that the tires of the vehicle dropped off the edge of the road. When the teenager steered back hard to the left to get the tires of the vehicle back on the roadway, the pavement “tripped” the SUV causing it to rollover multiple times. Evidence was provided in the case that the models of 4Runners produced between1990-95 were top heavy, which combined with a narrow wheel base made them prone to rollover.
The jury award was based on the fact that the teenager is confined to a wheelchair and cannot use his arms. This tragic rollover accident serves as an example of the danger posed by defective SUVs that are susceptible to rollover accidents. The steering maneuver that the teenager used is routinely executed without incident in other types of passenger vehicles that do not possess the narrow wheel base and high center of gravity of a defective SUV. This simple evasive maneuver can lead to traumatic permanent injuries or even wrongful death when executed in an SUV.
This tragedy also provides further evidence of the extreme danger involved in rollover accidents. When a vehicle rolls over there is an extremely high risk that vehicle occupants will be ejected from the vehicle. The safest place during most collisions is inside the vehicle where you have the protection of the body and frame of the vehicle. This is a reason it is extremely important to wear a seatbelt when riding in an SUV because it will help keep you in the vehicle in the event of a rollover collision. Many times when the vehicle rolls over it causes the door frames to become malformed causing the door to swing open and further increasing the possibility of a vehicle ejection.
Even when a vehicle occupant manages to remain in the vehicle in an SUV rollover accident, there may be a substantial risk of roof crush injuries. Most SUVs lack roll bars and do not have adequate roof strength to prevent the roof from collapsing on SUV occupants in a rollover accident. If you or someone you or someone you love is injured or a family member dies in an SUV rollover accident, you may be able to seek damages for your injuries and loss. At the Barrett Law Offices PLLC, our experienced Mississippi SUV rollover accident lawyers represent injury victims throughout Mississippi. Our law firm has roots that reach back 75 years so contact us today for your free initial consultation at (662) 834-2376 to see how we can help.