What Happens to Your Body in a Rollover Accident?
A car accident is hard on human bodies. Motor vehicles are human-made inventions, so it’s not like we’ve adapted to bear the impact of an auto accident. Rollover accidents, where a car tips or rolls onto its side or roof, are especially dangerous and often fatal. Here’s what can happen to your body during a rollover accident.
How a Rollover Accident Can Impact Your Body
While any car accident can be severe, rollover accidents often impact your body from multiple angles. A driver or their passengers might get thrown from the car or impaired by road items or debris.
If you were in a rollover accident, don’t wait to call 911 and get medical treatment immediately. You could have life-threatening injuries that need immediate attention. Here are some of the most common ways that a rollover accident affects your body.
Head Injuries
During the initial impact and as your car tips over, your head can make contact with many different surfaces: the roof, the windows, the dashboard, airbags, other items in the vehicle, and even the road. You might experience concussions or other traumatic brain injuries in a variety of ways.
After a car accident that stops your vehicle abruptly, your body continues moving forward until it runs into another object. Unfortunately, the impact can cause a lot of damage to all body parts.
Neck Injuries
Whiplash injuries are common in rollover accidents. Whiplash happens when your neck is snapped quickly forward and backward in a whiplike motion. Whiplash can stretch and damage the muscles and tendons in your neck, causing debilitating pain later on.
Since the pain and other symptoms might not show up right away, it’s best to see a doctor who can evaluate you right away. If the doctor notices you might have whiplash, they can start treating you and hopefully avoid worse pain and damage down the road.
Spine Injuries
Of all the potential rollover accident injuries you might endure, spinal injuries are often the most severe. Spine injuries to the body are prevalent in rollover accidents.
Although whiplash is usually considered a neck injury, it can also affect your spine. Other rollover accident spine injuries can include:
- Spinal fractures
- Herniated and ruptured discs
- Spondylolisthesis
- Spinal cord injuries
- Facet joint injuries
If you have asymptomatic spinal stenosis, which is when the spaces within your spine become narrowed and put pressure on your nerves, a rollover accident can cause you to become symptomatic and cause a lot of pain.
Upper Body Injuries
Even if you are wearing your seatbelt during a rollover accident, the impact can cause severe injuries to your upper body. You might face injuries like:
- Broken collarbone
- Collapsed lung
- Broken ribs
- Bruised heart
Any of these injuries can be life-threatening or even cause instant death.
Arm and Leg Injuries
When your car crashes and tips during a rollover accident, your limbs can collide with objects inside or outside of the car. A rollover accident can cause broken arms, legs, fingers, ankles, or other broken body parts, cuts, bruises, loss of limb, and more.
Fractures
Any of your body parts can become broken during a rollover accident, including your pelvis. Pelvis fractures often require extensive treatment and physical therapy.
Severe Cuts and Lacerations
Items inside or outside of your car can cause cuts or lacerations to any area of your body. This can cause blood loss, infections, and even dismemberment in some situations.
Internal Organ Injuries
Your internal organs might bruise or rupture during the accident impact, causing issues that need immediate medical attention.
Mental and Emotional Injuries
Physical injuries are not the only damages that happen to your body during and after a rollover accident. When the accident occurs, your body releases adrenaline and other hormones to help you deal with what’s happening.
You might notice that you don’t feel much pain, feel “hyperalert,” or are inexplicably calm right after the crash. These feelings are your body trying to protect you. However, after the adrenaline has worn off, you might feel the full effects of the accident.
We urge all accident victims to get checked out by a doctor as soon as possible, even if they don’t feel much pain, because we know they might not realize the full extent of their injuries.
Pain and Suffering After a Rollover Accident
An accident can impact you on a mental and emotional level long after it’s over. You might experience pain and suffering like:
- Mental anguish
- Depression or anxiety
- Fear or embarrassment
- Emotional suffering from scarring or disfigurement
- Loss of enjoyment of life
If a loved one died in a rollover accident or you can no longer do the things you used to enjoy because of the accident, you will have to endure the emotional effects of that loss. But you shouldn’t have to experience them alone.
Filing a Claim for Compensation After a Rollover Accident
No matter what happens to your body — physically or emotionally — in and after a rollover accident, you might be entitled to compensation. If another party caused your accident, you can pursue financial recovery for your:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Vehicle damage
- Pain and suffering
Although modern cars provide a lot more protection for our bodies than they used to, they are not foolproof. If someone else caused your rollover accident, you probably have a lot of damages. A rollover accident lawyer can help you seek compensation for the costs of the accident.
If you have any injuries or pain after a rollover accident, get medical treatment, document your costs, and contact a rollover accident lawyer as soon as possible.
Don’t wait to get started. In Texas, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of your accident (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003). If you wait too long, you might miss your chance to pursue compensation. A lawyer in your area can ensure you do not miss the statute of limitations for your state.
Get a Free Consultation with a Rollover Accident Lawyer Today
Our Dallas car accident lawyers can match you with the best lawyer for your case. Contact us at (469) 998-4069 or contact us online to get started with a FREE, no-obligation consultation today. We don’t get paid unless we win you money.
