About 10,000 people die in rollover accidents each year in the U.S. Though rollovers amount to only 4% of all crashes, approximately, they are more likely to result in serious injuries vis–vis other crashes. That one-third of deaths among motor vehicle occupants result from rollover accidents is testament to this fact.

Any type of vehicle can end up in a rollover accident. However, taller and narrower vehicles that have higher centers of gravity– e.g., sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans and pickups–are much more likely to tip and roll over than passenger cars, which generally have lower centers of gravity and hence are more stable.

The risk of injury for occupants of vans and SUVs is enhanced by the inadequacy of crash protection in such vehicles, their weak roofs for one.

Drivers of smaller cars face a great risk in accidents involving SUVs or trucks. The high bumpers and stiff frames of SUVs and trucks can easily override the crash protection of automobiles. When a heavier vehicle hits a regular-sized car, the driver of the smaller vehicle has more difficulty keeping it under control. The force of the impact can be so great that it causes the car to spin or rollover into oncoming traffic or off the highway. As one can imagine, the results of these rollover accidents can be devastating.

Survivors of rollover accidents may lose substantial income from work or time from school as a consequence of their injuries or other issues related to the accident. Victims of rollover accidents often have to undergo major surgery and extensive rehabilitation, and, in some cases, they may become permanently disabled. Clearly, the capacity of rollover accidents to adversely transform victims’ lives is immeasurable.

There is thus an urgent need to protect ones legal rights following an accident. Consulting an experienced injury lawyer, who specializes in traffic accidents, is an essential step in safeguarding your rights. But the first step begins at the scene of the accident: do not engage in negotiations with the insurance company of the person at fault before securing an attorney to represent you. If you sign the wrong papers, you might give up all your legal claims for payment of medical bills and lost income, as well as compensation for pain and suffering.

In most cases injured victims and their families tend to focus on their physical, emotional, or financial challenges after the accident. And this is as it should be. Nevertheless, the time that some state laws allow for one to initiate legal action act against the person at fault starts to run out the day the motor vehicle accident occurs. So the time to initiate legal action is now.