MOUNT PLEASANT, Wisconsin—A male driver suffered severe injuries after his SUV rolled over on State Highway 20 near Mount Pleasant around 10:45 p.m. on October 14, 2022.
Reportedly, the 52-year-old driver, a man from Racine, was traveling east on State Highway 20 when his car went off the roadway for unknown reasons and struck a culvert. First responders arrived at the crash scene and discovered the man trapped in the vehicle, which had come to rest about 100 feet from the roadway.
The driver was freed and transported via Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital. The accident shut down both eastbound lanes of State Highway 20 for about 5 hours.
An investigation is still ongoing into the cause of this crash. Further information about the accident is unavailable.
Vehicle manufacturers may be liable for injuries sustained in rollovers when cars are not crashworthy
Rollover accidents are, unfortunately, extremely common. However, car manufacturers also know this commonality, meaning rollover accidents are foreseeable. Since these types of crashes are expected, it is also fair to anticipate that manufacturers would add safety features to vehicles to minimize the risk of injury or death to drivers and passengers in a rollover. Safety features essential in rollovers include airbags, seatbelts, shatter-proof glass, and a sturdy roll cage and/or crumple zone.
Sometimes, as a cost-saving measure, manufacturers will supplement the integration of these safety features with lower-quality materials or simply opt out of including them in vehicles, making certain vehicles less “crashworthy” than others.
Injured persons and families of those killed in rollover crashes must advocate for a thorough investigation of the crashworthiness of the car involved. If a vehicle was not manufactured to withstand a rollover, a family or victim might receive recompense from the manufacturer. In addition to helping families and victims recover after such a terrible accident, the act of the manufacturer compensating rollover victims can send a strong message to other vehicle manufacturers, who may think twice about cutting corners in the overall design of their vehicles. This way, severe injuries and deaths in rollover accidents may decrease over time.
Should a further investigation reveal that injuries sustained in the rollover in Mount Pleasant could have been lessened or prevented by better manufacturing practices, the victims here may be entitled to justice through the legal system. Our attorneys can help injured persons and their families navigate the complexities of bringing a claim against a large vehicle manufacturer. As for now, our thoughts and prayers are with the Racine man involved in this wreck. We hope he can make a full and speedy recovery.
