It's like 6:03AM and I am watching Crash.

Say.. a car flips over on it's roof. Someone is there, is it okay to help them if there's no one else around, or is there a high chance that the roof will collapse in even more.

By collapse, I mean like the A B and C pillars and what not.

 

my first car was a acura legend coupe. on my first day of driving(4 hour trip). i fliped 3 times cause from sleeping on the wheel. and i was on the highway. was going about 80-90 mph.. anyways. i ended upside down and thank god i got my seatbelt.. i had to craw outta the car and NO, it didn't collapse on me.... and even after 30 minuts when the cops finally came. it was still o.k

well i can't say for all cars.. but i guess i did testdummie the Acura legend(91 -95)

 

Wow man that's incredible. I just wanted to know what was up ya know..?

But then again, you had a nice car, the Legend!

 

I would say that if the car stopped rolling and ended on the roof without collapsing, it would hold. The roof should pretty much only collapse if there was damage to the pillars directly, reducing their strength. If they did incur damage, I would think the roof would collpase prior to the car coming to a complete stop.

 

It will be ok.. Dont ever hesitate to help someone in need if theyre stuck and can't get out. From what I personally eyewitnessed when cars flipped over both times occupants were rather unharmed (passanger in one instance had a broken leg.)

The roof will collapse from the massive inpact and weight of the car but after initial impact it will hold in place. First case was a 1995 nissan 240sx that flipped occupants were pulled through the rear window. Second case was a 1985 Ae85 rwd Toyota Corrolla, driver got himself out. The 240sx belonged to my roomate, only thing he has left of that car is a piece of a fender he hangs in the wall as decoration.

We had to leave the corolla behind, (no way to pull it out.) for a few days. The roof was still holding even then. In fact driver of the car took photos of him standing on top (or bottom of the car?) a few days later haha grateful to come out alive I guess? And the roof still held....

First case was sudden animal in blind turn. Second case his old and worn suspension came apart....

 

Yep, it it stops and the roof holds, it should hold for good if no more weight is placed on it.

Your bigger concern would be if it's a good idea to remove injured occupants from a wreck. If they have any sort of spinal damage or compound fractures, you may do more harm then good in extracting them. You could actually paralyze them or puncture internal organs, etc...

If the person is injured but the car does not seem to be leaking fuel, sinking, or otherwise non-life threatening, you may consider not moving them. Keep them company, talk to them, and make sure they stay alert while paramedics arrive.

Obviously if there is immediate danger then you need to get them out as quickly and carefully as possible. You'd have to take it case by case.

 

Yes I was just about to say this. You could cause much more harm by trying to take them out. I read somewhere the best thing to do is shut the car off, if it's not already, and call 911. I also remember a case when the rescuer was later sued by the person in the car.

 

I witnessed a crash a few years ago where I was in back of a Oldsmobile 98 stopped at a light. The lady proceeded to go and cross the highway and a Honda Prelude hit her traveling around 50-60mph. The Oldsmobile went into the air and came down on its roof. I almost could not believe what I just saw. The Prelude had surprising little damage and the driver and passenger both got out and where okay. The Oldsmobile 98 even after flying in the air and doing a flip and landing on its roof retained most of its structure and the lady although she was in shock inside was not bleeding. The windows did not even shatter. The lady inside the Olds 98 was shaking and the people who came to help debated breaking the windows and pulling her out but since the car was not leaking fuel and it did not appear she was in immediate danger and did not want to possibly further injure her we decided to wait for paramedics and firefighters to get her out. The roof did not show any signs of collapsing the whole time and I doubt in most cases a roof would collapse just from the weight of the car if it did not originally collapse from the accident.

 

I think i read somewhere that the % of fatalaties or injuries in rollover crashes is WAY lower than the % of other types of accidents. As long as you're wearing a seat belt you should usually be ok, just extremely shaken up. They're just harder to clean up.

However, your car will self destruct in a fiery explosion in 15 seconds if you're the guy from Grand Theft Auto.

 

New Federal roof safety standards will soon deal with this.....though they are aimed primarily at SUV's which flip more often than cars do.