A roof crush injury usually occurs when a vehicle flips onto its top during a rollover accident, and the vehicle’s roof is crushed by the force of the accident and the weight of the overturned automobile. Sometimes, however, a car or truck’s roof can be crushed by a falling object.

In either case, a roof crush accident poses a great threat to drivers and passengers who can be crushed along with the roof, punctured by broken metal and glass or otherwise severely injured in the accident. When the vehicle manufacturer fails to install basic roof crush protection like roll bars and roof supports, causing preventable deaths and life-threatening injuries, that manufacturer should be held responsible for its negligence in a court of law.

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Roof Crush Injury Statistics

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that roof crush injuries that happen during a rollover cause nearly 600 deaths and over 800 serious injuries per year (among passengers wearing seat belts). The numbers rise for those who were not wearing their seat belts.

In 2005, the NHTSA proposed more stringent standards for the roofs of sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and other heavy vehicles that are more likely to roll over. Despite new safety standards, hundreds of people are seriously injured or killed in roof crush accidents every year.

Common roof crush injuries include:

• traumatic brain injury
• paralysis
• spinal injury
• brain damage
• quadriplegia other permanent disabilities
• death