Saturday, a man from Rockwall, Texas swerved to avoid the traffic that was suddenly stopping ahead of him on I-30 near Dalrock Road in Dallas. The man turned toward the inside shoulder of I-30 to avoid the obstruction, but the front driver’s side of his Toyota Camry crashed into the concrete barrier at the median. The crash caused the Toyota Camry to roll, ejecting the driver. The driver from Rockwall was pronounced dead at the scene of the tragic crash. (Source: Tristan Hallman, The Dallas Morning News, 8/24/13)
The I-30 rollover accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC express their sincere condolences to the family and friends of the driver from Rockwall.
Rollover Wrecks and Vehicle Ejections Cause Thousands of Accident Fatalities Each Year; In Some Cases, Seatbelt Defects are at Fault for the Fatal Vehicle Ejections
According to the U.S. NHTSA, only 10% of crashes lead to vehicle rollovers. But our I-30 rollover accident attorneys emphasize that almost 33% of all U.S. traffic fatalities each year are linked to rollovers, often because of vehicle ejection. Crash data indicates that around 75% of all vehicle occupants ejected during a wreck suffer fatal injury.
Our I-30 rollover accident attorneys note that a common cause behind vehicle ejections is inertial unlatching that causes seatbelt restraints to fail. But this cause of fatal accidents is very difficult to prove without the help of a skilled accident lawyer experienced with vehicle defect cases. Inertial unlatching, or “false latching,” occurs because a defective seatbelt might have looked, felt, and sounded like it latched, yet it did not actually catch securely. The danger from false latching is greatest during a high speed crash or a rollover wreck.
The I-30 rollover accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC obtained a strong financial settlement from Ford on behalf of the family of a mother who was killed in a rollover wreck because of vehicle ejection due to inertial unlatching of the seatbelt restraint. As in the I-30 crash that tragically killed the man from Rockwall, the mother was trying to take evasive action to avoid a sudden obstruction in her path, in this case a large BBQ grill that had dropped out of a vehicle ahead of her on the highway.
Her Ford Expedition rolled several times, ejecting the woman from the vehicle to suffer severe head traumas and injuries to the torso that led to her death. Click the link to learn how Chad Points and Tony Denena’s careful presentation of the evidence and testimony by qualified expert witnesses proved that the woman’s Ford Expedition was unstable and difficult to handle in foreseeable emergency evasive maneuvers and how Ford was aware that the Ford’s seatbelt restraint system and roof structure failed to adequately protect vehicle occupants during rollover wrecks.