FORD EXPLORER ROOF CRUSH & ROOF PILLAR FAILURE

Explorer Rollovers & Roof Crush: A Bad Combination

Each year hundreds of Ford Explorer owners, drivers and passengers are severally injured or killed due in Ford Explorer rollover accidents. In many of these Explorer rollovers, the roof crushes down causing catastrophic injuries and killing scores. In many of these Explorer rollovers the roof crush/roof collapse cases, the roof supports known as the roof pillars, collapse allowing the roof to intrude into the occupant space. In many Ford Explorer and Explorer Sport Trac rollovers, the occupants will have roof crush injuries to their have lower-cervical neck fractures (C4, C5 or C6), brain contusions, closed head injuries and even death.

Roof failure or roof crush injuries result from the energy of the vehicle in a rollover, creating compressive forces pushing down on the top of skull when the head is in an upright position. This energy compression can cause a bursting fracture in the C5 to C7 of the cervical spine. A roof crush induced bursting fracture can cause a loss of intravertebral space both anterior and posterior resulting in paraplegia, quadriplegia and death.

In other Ford explorer rollovers, the roof structure, roof header or pillars intruding into the Explorer is not the cause of injury, but it is when the occupant "dives" into the roof, resulting in the head flexing forward before receiving an impact to the top of the head. This can cause the bone in cervical vertebrae to fracture, NOT BURST. When this happens, the posterior corner of the vertebrae then impinges directly against the spinal cord resulting in loss of anterior vertebrae body height. Diving type injuries can happen to belted occupants, who for many reasons become unbelted or unrestrained during a rollover. This can happen by inertia release of the buckle, false latching of the buckle, came-out, or unintentional or inadvertent release.

FORD EXPLORER ROLLOVER & ROOF CRUSH DEFECTS EVALUATION    

If you or a member of your family has been involved in a Ford Explorer or Explorer Sport Trac rollover accident with a severe roof crush, roof pillar collapse failure or any other serious accident or failure and you have questions about whether the vehicle, seat belt, airbags or roof design may caused or contributed to the accident or injuries, then call us now. Mr. Willis is a Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney with over 20+ years of product liability and rollover litigation experience. Call the Willis Law Firm at 1-800-883-9858 for a Free & Confidential Consultation or Click Here  Nationwide Assistance is Available.