The Personal Injury Lawyers Carabin Shaw have represented injured Texans for over 34 years. The firm has board-certified Lawyers certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and has zero disciplinary history with the State Bar of Texas. Call (800) 862-1260 for a free case review. Principal office in San Antonio

SUV Rollover Accidents on Austin’s Hill Country Curves

An SUV rollover is a crash in which a vehicle tips onto its side or roof, and it produces some of the most severe injuries on the road. Our Austin auto accident lawyers handle rollover cases because they rarely have a single cause — a tall, top-heavy SUV, a sharp curve taken too fast, a tire that failed, or a roof that crushed on impact can each turn a survivable wreck into a fatal one. On the winding Hill Country roads around Austin — RM 2222, RM 620, Loop 360, and the ranch roads west of the city — those factors line up more often than drivers realize.

SUVs and trucks carry a higher center of gravity than cars, which makes them more prone to tipping in a sudden turn or swerve. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has long documented that SUVs roll over at higher rates than passenger cars — you can read the agency’s vehicle safety data at NHTSA. When a rollover happens at speed on a curve, the people inside are exposed to roof crush, ejection, and violent forces that ordinary seat belts and airbags can only do so much to counter.

Because a rollover can stem from driver conduct, a vehicle defect, or a road hazard, pinning down the cause is the first step toward knowing who is responsible.

What Causes SUV Rollovers

Rollovers usually result from a combination of factors rather than one mistake. The causes our attorneys investigate include:

• Speed on curves. Taking a Hill Country curve too fast shifts weight to the outside wheels and tips a top-heavy SUV.
• Tire failure. A blowout, especially on a rear tire, can throw an SUV sideways into a roll.
• Being struck or run off the road. Another driver’s negligence can trip a rollover even when the SUV driver did nothing wrong.
• Design and stability defects. Some vehicles are more rollover-prone than others, and a defective design may be to blame.
• Roof crush. A roof too weak to protect occupants turns a roll into a catastrophe.

Who Can Be Held Responsible

Responsibility for a rollover depends on what caused it. If another driver forced your SUV off the road or struck it, that driver is liable. If a defective tire or an unstable design contributed, the manufacturer may be responsible under Texas products liability law. If a weak roof made the injuries worse, the vehicle maker may face a crashworthiness claim for the enhanced harm. Investigating every angle protects your recovery, because rollover injuries are severe enough that a single insurance policy rarely covers them.

Why the Vehicle Has to Be Preserved

A rollover claim often turns on the SUV itself. An engineer examining the vehicle can determine whether a tire failed, whether the roof crushed beyond acceptable limits, and whether a stability defect played a role. Once the vehicle is repaired or sent to salvage, that proof is gone.

Our team works to secure the vehicle and bring in the right experts, and a former police officer on our investigation team can document the scene, the road, and the crash geometry. Together, that evidence separates a driver’s account from a provable claim against a manufacturer.

What Texas Law Allows You to Recover

Rollover survivors often face spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and permanent disability, and families sometimes face the loss of a loved one. A recovery can include medical expenses, lifelong future care, lost income, diminished earning capacity, property damage, and pain and suffering, along with wrongful death and survival claims where a rollover proved fatal. Where a defect caused or worsened the injuries, exemplary damages may apply.

Because rollover cases combine severe injuries with disappearing physical evidence, they reward early, thorough investigation more than almost any other crash.

Talk to Our Austin Car Accident Lawyers