Road Departure Crashes

No matter when, where, or how a car accident happens, it can be devastating to anyone involved in the collision. Road departure crashes can lead to serious and life-threatening injuries, especially when these types of accidents result in head-on impact with another vehicle. If you or someone you love was injured in a road departure crash caused by another motorist, it is critical to get started on a claim as soon as possible. An experienced road departure accident lawyer can assist you with your case.

What is a road departure crash? According to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a roadway department (RwD) collision is defined as “a crash which occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line, or otherwise leaves the traveled way.” In some situations, these kinds of accidents are described as lane departure crashes.

A roadway departure accident can happen in a wide variety of ways. For example, a driver might fall asleep at the wheel and might drift off the side of the road onto the shoulder. When a driver is traveling at a particularly high speed, this type of single-vehicle road departure wreck can result in the motorist crashing through guard rails on a freeway or highway. Other roadway departure crashes happen, for instance, if a driver is drunk and drifts across the center lane to cause a head-on collision with a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. According to the FHWA, head-on collisions caused by lane departures averaged more than 19,000 fatalities between 2016 and 2018, and those crashes accounted for more than 50% of all traffic deaths in the country.

Liability or responsibility for a road departure accident will depend on the particular circumstances in which the collision occurred. Some roadway departure accidents are single-vehicle crashes, while others involve two or more cars. Yet even in single-vehicle crashes, another party such as the designer or manufacturer of the automobile or one of its parts could be liable for the collision if it resulted from a defective car part. The following are examples of some of the parties who could be responsible for a roadway departure crash:

• Negligent driver of another vehicle;
• Negligent mechanic;
• Designer of car or one of its parts;
• Manufacturer of car or one of its parts;
• Owner of the vehicle that caused the collision; or
• Property owner where the accident occurred.

Depending upon where and how the accident happened, you may be eligible to seek compensation by filing an auto insurance claim or by filing a car accident lawsuit against the at-fault driver. As the FHWA suggests, many lane departure collisions that involve an intoxicated or drowsy driver who crosses the center line and causes a head-on crash may be held accountable through a negligence claim.

You should speak with a roadway departure accident attorney about the best options for seeking financial compensation given the specific facts of your case.

Do you need assistance filing a claim after a roadway departure crash? An experienced road departure accident lawyer can assist you. Contact the Walton Law Firm to learn more.