Roof Crush Accidents

Sadly, rollover accidents all too often result in death because of the failure of the vehicle’s roof to hold its structure and shape. The roof’s support pillars, its headers, or its rails, may fail from the force of the crash, weakening the roof and causing its collapse.

Roof collapse in a car accident is a sign of a vehicle defect. The fact that the vehicle’s roof failed may demonstrate that the roof was not crashworthy, and that there are claims to be pursued against the manufacturer (as well as other potential parties).

Defects in roof structure include:

• Weak low grade steel
• Lack of roof enforcements
• Poorly designed pillars
• Poorly designed roof headers.

Those who are victims of a roof failure in a rollover accident may suffer a variety of life-altering injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or amputations. Many victims of a roof crush accident die in the rollover crash.

One problem causing so many of these fatal roof crush injuries was the lack of legislation to address safety issues. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Rule 571.216 was only updated in 2009 after being left unchanged for over 25 years, with its increased safety standards to become effective for manufacturers in 2015.