When a rollover truck accident occurs, the devastating consequences can change your life forever. These catastrophic truck accidents often result in injuries, extensive medical bills, and overwhelming emotional trauma for accident victims. If you or a loved one has been injured in a rollover truck accident in Maryland, you need experienced Maryland truck accident attorneys who understand the complexities of trucking industry regulations and can fight for the financial compensation you deserve.
At Zirkin & Schmerling, our dedicated team of Maryland truck accident lawyers have successfully handled numerous truck accident cases. We understand that truck accident victims face mounting medical expenses, lost wages, and out-of-pocket expenses while dealing with the physical and emotional aftermath of their injuries.
Contact Zirkin & Schmerling Injury Lawyers today for a free consultation. Call us at 410-753-4611 or visit our offices to discuss your truck accident claim.
Where Rollover Truck Accidents Occur Most
Rollover truck accidents can happen anywhere, but certain locations see a higher frequency of these dangerous incidents. Many truck accidents involving rollovers occur on highways and interstates where commercial vehicles travel at high speeds. In Maryland, areas like Interstate 95, Interstate 270, and the Baltimore Beltway are common sites for truck accidents due to heavy traffic and complex road configurations.
Prince George’s County and Montgomery County frequently see rollover accidents involving tractor-trailers, particularly at highway interchanges and curved sections of roadway. Commercial trucks are more susceptible to rollovers when navigating sharp turns, especially when drivers fail to reduce speed appropriately for road conditions.
Construction zones present another high-risk area where rollover truck accidents frequently occur. When other drivers must suddenly change lanes or when road obstacles force quick maneuvering or cause tire blowouts, commercial truck drivers may lose control of their vehicles. Security cameras and accident reports from these areas often show how quickly a situation can turn dangerous when the trailer becomes unstable. An accident lawyer will use this evidence in your case. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
Trip vs. Untripped Rollover Accidents
Understanding the difference between trip and untripped rollover accidents is crucial for truck accident lawyers when building a strong truck accident case. These two types of rollover crashes have different causes and require different approaches when working to prove liability.
Trip rollover accidents happen when a truck’s wheels encounter an external object or surface irregularity that causes the vehicle to tip over. This might happen when a commercial driver strikes a curb, guardrail, or other roadway obstacle. The force of impact with these objects can cause the truck to trip and roll over.
Untripped rollover accidents happen due to the truck’s dynamics and forces acting on the vehicle during normal driving. These accidents typically occur when centrifugal forces overcome the truck’s stability during turns or lane changes. Fatigue, speeding, faulty brakes, or improper loading can contribute to untripped rollovers.
Both types of rollover accidents can result in complex legal cases. Maryland truck accident lawyers must carefully examine incident reports, interview police officers, and analyze physical evidence to determine which type of rollover occurred.
Causes of Rollover Truck Accidents
Speeding
Excessive speed remains one of the leading causes of rollover truck accidents throughout Maryland. When truck drivers exceed safe speeds for road conditions, they significantly increase the risk of a rollover. Federal rules establish speed limits for commercial trucks, but many accidents happen when drivers ignore these regulations or fail to adjust their speed for weather, traffic, or road conditions.
Trucking companies that pressure drivers to meet unrealistic delivery schedules often contribute to speeding-related rollover crashes. Insurance companies and accident investigators frequently find that excessive speed was a primary factor when examining truck accident cases involving rollovers.
Road Obstacles
Road obstacles create dangerous conditions that can lead to rollover truck accidents when drivers are forced to make sudden steering corrections. Construction debris, disabled vehicles, fallen cargo from other trucks, and even animals crossing the roadway can cause commercial truck drivers to swerve unexpectedly. These quick maneuvers can destabilize a trailer and lead to a rollover crash.
Road Defects
Poorly maintained roadways contribute to many rollovers. Potholes, uneven pavement, broken pavement edges, and inadequate road design can all cause truck drivers to lose control. When a commercial vehicle’s wheels drop off the pavement edge or hit a large pothole, the sudden impact can trigger a rollover accident.
Drowsy Driving
Driver fatigue poses a serious threat to highway safety and frequently causes rollover truck accidents. Despite regulations limiting driving hours, many commercial drivers operate their vehicles while drowsy or fatigued. When drowsy drivers make steering corrections, they often overcorrect or make jerky movements that can cause their truck’s trailer to become unstable.
DUI
Driving under the influence remains a significant cause of rollover truck accidents despite strict regulations governing commercial drivers. Truck drivers who hold a commercial driver’s license face stricter blood alcohol limits and more severe penalties than regular drivers. Impaired truck drivers have reduced reaction times, poor judgment, and compromised motor skills that make rollover accidents more likely.
Serious Injuries Caused by Rollover Truck Accidents
Crush Injury
Rollover truck accidents often result in devastating crush injuries when the massive weight of commercial trucks traps occupants or other drivers. These injuries occur when the truck’s cab or trailer crushes parts of the victim’s body, causing broken bones, muscles, organs, and blood vessels. Crush injuries frequently require the person injured to undergo multiple surgeries, extended hospital stays, and lengthy rehabilitation periods.
The medical costs associated with treating crush injuries can quickly exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many people who suffer crush injuries in rollover accidents face permanent disabilities that affect their ability to work and maintain their quality of life.
Amputation
The violent forces involved in rollover truck accidents can cause traumatic amputations or injuries so severe that surgical amputation becomes necessary. These life-altering injuries require immediate emergency medical treatment and long-term adaptive care.
Amputation injuries create enormous financial burdens for accident victims and their families. Beyond the initial medical costs, victims need prosthetic devices, occupational therapy, home modifications, and ongoing medical care.
Head Injuries
Rollover truck accidents frequently cause severe head injuries, including traumatic brain injuries that can have permanent consequences. When trucks roll over, occupants and nearby drivers may suffer head trauma from impact with the vehicle, ejection from the vehicle, or being struck by debris. Each person injured in these accidents faces unique medical challenges and recovery timelines.
The medical records of head injury victims often show the need for intensive neurological care, brain surgery, and extended rehabilitation. The lost wages and medical expenses associated with head injuries often represent the largest component of personal injury claims in rollover truck accident cases.
How the Driver and the Trucking Company Could Share Liability
In rollover truck accident cases, liability often extends beyond just the individual truck driver to include the trucking company that employs them. This shared liability concept holds trucking companies as the at fault party when their drivers are operating within the scope of their employment.
Trucking companies can be directly liable for rollover accidents when they fail to properly train drivers, maintain their vehicles, or comply with federal safety regulations. If a company pressures drivers to violate hours-of-service rules or fails to conduct proper background checks, they may bear primary responsibility for resulting accidents.
The trucking company’s insurance coverage typically provides much larger policy limits than individual driver coverage, making it crucial to establish company liability in rollover accident cases. When companies share liability with their drivers, accident victims have a better chance of recovering full financial compensation for their injuries and losses from these liable parties.
How To Maximize Emotional Distress Damages
Emotional distress damages represent a significant component of many truck accident lawsuits, particularly in cases involving severe rollover crashes. These damages compensate victims for the psychological trauma, anxiety, depression, and other mental health consequences that result from their accident experience.
Medical records from mental health professionals provide crucial evidence of emotional distress damages. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists can diagnose conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety that commonly affect truck accident victims.
Personal documentation also plays an important role in proving emotional distress. Victims should keep journals documenting their emotional struggles, sleep difficulties, relationship problems, and inability to enjoy activities they previously found pleasurable. The severity of physical injuries often correlates with emotional distress damages, as more serious injuries typically cause greater psychological trauma.
Get the Legal Help You Need After a Truck Rollover Accident
Rollover truck accidents cause some of the most devastating injuries seen in motor vehicle crashes, often leaving innocent victims with permanent disabilities, enormous medical bills, and ongoing emotional distress. The Maryland truck accident attorneys at Zirkin & Schmerling understand the unique challenges these cases present and work hard to prove negligence and seek compensation from the at fault party.
Our Maryland truck attorneys collaborate with accident reconstruction experts, medical professionals, and industry specialists to construct robust cases that maximize our clients’ recoveries. Don’t let contributory negligence laws or aggressive insurance companies prevent you from receiving the compensation you deserve.
Contact Zirkin & Schmerling Injury Lawyers today for your free consultation. Call 410-753-4611, or visit our offices in Pikesville or Glen Burnie. Take legal action and let our experienced accident lawyers fight for the justice and compensation you deserve.
