Roof Crush Accident Lawyers

Kraemer, Manes & Associates LLC “KM&A” is a personal injury law firm with roof crush accident lawyers serving all of Pennsylvania. If you or a loved one have been involved in a car accident involving serious personal injury, or you have lost a loved one from an accident, we invite you to contact us for a consultation. Call a KM&A car accident lawyer at 412-626-5626 or email us at lawyer@lawkm.com.

One of the most important safety features in a vehicle is a strong roof that can withstand the force of a rollover accident. If a roof crushes or folds during an accident it can cause debilitating injury or even death. Those injuries can lead to thousands of dollars in medical bills, lost wages, and other related expenses. Due to the serious nature of roof crush accidents if you or a loved one has been involved in one you will need an experienced attorney to represent you. Here at KM&A we have a seasoned legal team ready to fight for you in your roof crush case.

How Roof Crush Injuries Occur

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Roof crush injuries commonly occur during rollovers, but even in other types of accidents the roof may be damaged in a way that causes serious injury.  When a car is flipped over, involved in multi vehicle accident, or subject to any significant smashing impact, a vehicles roof may be crushed into the passenger cabin. A crushed roof may cause blunt force trauma injuries, piercing metal injuries, or it may even tear open a hole in the vehicle and allow a person to be ejected from it. Such injuries are extremely dangerous and oftentimes deadly.

SUVs and Roof Crush Accidents

SUVs are designed to be taller vehicles, resulting in them having a higher center of gravity than a typical sedan.  SUVs also have a higher ground clearance than other vehicles, giving them greater weight higher off the ground. This higher center of gravity and ground clearance makes SUVs more prone to rollover accidents and therefore more prone to roof crushing incidents.

Roof Crush Statistics

With the skyrocketing sale of SUVs and pickup trucks in the last thirty years, the rate of rollover accidents has increased, along with the rate of roof crush injuries. Official sources have noted that roof crush injuries cause close to 10,000 deaths annually. Studies by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety have shown that increased roof strength can greatly reduce the risk of serious injury and death in a rollover accident. These studies detailed how decreased roof intrusion leads to a lower risk of injury and a lower risk that an occupant will be thrown from the vehicle.

Roof Crush Regulations and Standards

Over the last thirty years, awareness of the dangers of weak vehicle roofs has increased. Automakers have begun to craft vehicles with stronger roofs and legislators have passed laws requiring new cars to be constructed with crush resistant roofs. Laws introduced in 2009 require roofs to be able to withstand forces of up to three times the vehicle’s weight. However, older vehicles may not have roof strengths equal to newer ones and even the new vehicles may still possess roofs that have the potential to be crushed and cause serious injury.

Defects in Roof Designs

If an automaker fails to produce a sufficiently crush resistant roof the automaker may be liable for the injuries from a roof crush occurrence. This liability could extend to the auto designer or manufacturer responsible for a defective roof. In light of the recent studies, statistics showing how roof crush contributes to injuries and deaths, and legislation, automakers have less wiggle room to deny liability for these injuries.

How the Law Holds Automakers Responsible

The law will hold either a designer or manufacturer of vehicles responsible for a defective roof. Designers would primarily be held liable if they designed a roof that was not as crush resistant as they could have made it. These decisions may have been made by the automaker in an effort to cut corners or save money.

Manufacturers may be found responsible if they placed a product onto the market that was constructed in a defective manner. For example, if the design called for extra metal reinforcement in a roof and the manufacturer failed to properly install the reinforcement it in your vehicle, they will be liable for that defect and the resulting harm caused.

There are additional legal theories available to hold automakers responsible for your injuries and the attorneys at Kraemer, Manes and Associates LLC are equipped to help you find the one that will best suit your case.

Compensation for Roof Crush Injuries

If you have suffered an injury as a result of an accident where the roof crushed, you may be able to receive compensation for the following damages:

Medical Expenses

You will be able to recover all of the medical costs for injuries resulting from a roof crush accident. This includes past costs, ongoing costs and future costs of treatment. Some of the common injuries in roof crush accidents include sprains and other injuries to the neck, back, and spinal cord. These injuries can come with extremely high medical costs and you will need the right representation to make sure you are compensated for all of them.

Pain and Suffering

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Compensation for lost wages and income will also be recoverable. If you missed time at work or lost your job as a result of the injuries you can receive compensation for it. We can also help you secure compensation for future loss of wages if you are permanently disabled or injured from the roof crush accident.

What to do After a Roof Crush Accident

Certain actions that you take after a roof crush accident can help strengthen your case going forward. You should do the following immediately after an accident:

Get Medical Attention

It is extremely important that you seek medical attention immediately after your accident. If you are hurt you may need medical attention to treat your injuries, especially because a large number of roof crush accidents involve, neck, spinal cord and back injuries. Seeing a doctor immediately will help ensure that any injuries are not further aggravated. Additionally, seeing a doctor right away will allow you to document the injuries you suffered, creating a record that may be needed to litigate your case.

Preserve the Vehicle

It may be tempting to have the vehicle scrapped immediately after the accident if it is totally destroyed. This urge should be resisted, as photographic and video evidence of the devastation and the crushed roof could be vital to your case. Preserving the vehicle will allow your attorney to accurately portray the extent of the devastation involved in the accident when trying to negotiate a settlement or secure victory in court.

Contact an Attorney

A roof crush attorney will need to get started as early as possible on your case in order to ensure it is negotiated and litigated to its fullest extent. An attorney may begin working on your case by investigating the causes of the accident. He may then attempt to negotiate a fair settlement with the responsible automaker. If a settlement is not attainable your attorney must be prepared to take your case to trial. Sometimes that is the only way to guarantee you or a loved one get the compensation that you deserve.

Why Kraemer, Manes and Associates LLC is the Right Choice

You will need attorneys with knowledge, experience and dedication to successfully litigate your roof crush accident case. KM&A has all three.

Knowledge

Roof crush accident attorneys require an understanding of the intricacies of how roof crushes occur and how the law applies to them. At KM&A we provide a team of attorneys with a passion and expertise in personal injury. We have the knowledge to litigate roof crush cases and ensure your rights are protected every step of the way.

Experience

Experience and the ability to confidently pursue your case is crucial to capturing the settlement or judgment that you deserve. KM&A has a team of attorneys ready to bring all of their litigation and personal injury knowledge to bear in order to ensure you receive compensation that is equivalent to the suffering you have experienced. We are ready to go to trial if it is necessary and we will stand up to the opposition no matter whom they are or how large their company is.

Dedication

Each and every attorney at KM&A has experience working with individuals who have been wronged or been injured due to an accident or occurrence that is not their fault. We are dedicated to not only getting the best results for our injured clients, but also guaranteeing that justice is served when the negligence of one party causes injury to another.

Roof Crush Accidents are Dangerous and Shockingly Real

Around 10,000 people per year die in a roof crush auto accidents. The number of people injured in them is even greater. If a defective roof has been the cause of injury to you or a loved one, there is help out there. The law requires that automakers stick to certain standards in designing roofs, and if they have not lived up to that duty, they need to be held responsible. Let KM&A take on that burden. We will fight for you every step of the way to ensure your rights are protected and that you get the justice you deserve.

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