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Lawyers in the House with Montlick - Your Legal Podcast
062 SUV Rollover Cases

062 SUV Rollover Cases

Lawyers in the House with Montlick

Attorneys in Podcast: Orlando Marra, Esq.| Catherine Powell, Esq.

Is a rollover considered a collision? Does more than one vehicle need to be involved for you to have a case? Attorneys Orlando and Cate are in the house to give you all the info you need to know.

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The purpose of this show is to provide general information about the law. Our guests will not provide any individualized legal advice. If you have a personal situation and need legal advice, contact us for your free legal consultation with a Montlick attorney.

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00:04	ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Wish you had a lawyer in the family? Now you do. Here’s your host, Veronica Waters. VERONICA: Hey friends, welcome back to the house. Lawyers in the house. With Montlick on WSB, I’m your girl, Veronica Waters. Come on in, make yourself comfortable for another special episode this week with two amazing Montlick Injury Attorneys.
00:32	VERONICA: Going to give you a little hint of what we’re talking about today. You may have seen this on your television just a few years ago. Jay Leno walked away from one of these, but only 65% of people are that fortunate. Now let’s get to those introductions of the two amazing Montlick Injury Attorneys sitting next to me today. Let’s start off with Catherine Powell. Welcome back to the show, Cate. CATE: Thanks so much. Good to see you. VERONICA: I’m so happy to have you back. We have such a fabulous time whenever you’re here.
01:00	VEORNICA: I am going to remind people that we did a fabulous solo episode with Cate talking about mediation and her expertise in that field, which is a great step that you may have to go through if you’re on your way to a lawsuit. Cate will help you get through it and tell you what to expect and give you some really good pointers on how to survive a good one. Cate’s been an attorney since 2015, and she’s been with Montlick since CATE: for just over one year.
01:28	CATE:But in my entire career, I have been kind of coordinating with co-counsel with Montlick on other cases. Love it. And so, Montlick loved you so much. They just said, come with us all of the time. CATE: Yes, I had to get fully in and I’m so happy. Happy to be there. Yes. VERONICA: You attended Scripps College for undergrad. You did Georgia State for your law school degree, your jurisdiction. Yes. Did I ever ask you why you became an attorney? I don’t think I ever have.
01:56	CATE: So, my father is an attorney. He’s an amazing person and amazing attorney. I’m very close with him. So, I watched him practice throughout the years and saw kind of the impact that he was able to have on individual people’s lives and helping them through some of the toughest times in their life. And that’s how I feel about it as well.
02:25	And that’s where I get my passion from. VERONICA: Do you know when the attorney bug hit you or bit you? Bugs don’t hit. They bite, right? When did you get bitten by the attorney bug? VERONCIA: You like little or did you already by the time you got to college, did you know or CATE: I was in his office throughout my childhood, messing around with his stuff when I was little, helping with filing when I was in high school. Then I went out to California for college. I did a lot of traveling.
02:53	CATE: I did some nonprofit work, kind of figuring myself out during my 20s. But then when I got back to Atlanta, I realized that this is the path that I wanted to be on. VERONCIA: And you know that it’s the right one for you. CATE: Yes. Love it. VERONICA: Now, sitting next to Cate is another one of our favorite guests. His name is Orlando Marra. So happy to have you back in the house, Orlando. It’s great to be here. Listen, mister, I am so excited to have you here because I feel like it’s been months since we last talked.
03:24	VERONICA: As we sit here today, we’re launching into football season. Correct. So, we’re not going to talk about our longstanding rivalry today. We’re just going to talk business today, but I love having you in here because you’re always so much fun as well. Orlando went to Saint Francis, right? ORLANDO: Saint Francis Undergraduate Saint Francis undergrad. VERONICA: And then you went to Mississippi College of Law. That’s my home state. There you go. Shout out to Mississippi. ORLANDO: I knew that. That’s why I went there.
03:53	VERONICA: You know what? How did you like Mississippi? ORLANDO: It was interesting. It was a little bit of a culture shock at first because I was from Western New York area, but in the end, it was great. It was a great experience. Jackson, Mississippi, it’s a great place to visit, and I was there for three years. VERONICA: I love it. Now, you’ve been an attorney since 1989, Orlando. Correct. Tell me what led you into law. ORLANDO: Well, similar to Cate, I had an uncle that we were close with that was an attorney.
04:21	ORLANDO: And growing up, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but as I got into college and saw how he really did make differences in people’s lives, that really kind of stuck with me. And then after college, you know trying to find yourself, and I think you know working with him and working in the summers with him, it ended up being something that I really enjoyed and went from there to law school. VERONICA: Now, did you automatically know that personal injury was the field for you, or did you try a couple things first?
04:51	ORLANDO: Not really. You know I originally practiced in Florida for seven years, and we did a little bit of everything. You know we did immigration and family law and in personal injury as well. And when I came to move to Atlanta, the interesting part about MONTLICK was I could just concentrate on one thing, which was personal injury. And I think that made a big difference because it was the thing, I enjoyed doing the most in Florida, but then here it was great just to concentrate on the one area of law versus trying to do everything.
05:21	VERONICA: And it allows you to sort of hone your expertise and see a lot of things coming as opposed to trying to be an expert about you know a bunch of different things. ORLANDO: Correct. Exactly. And for 27 years, I’ve been doing it with Montlick. So, it’s worked out really well for me. VERONICA: Thank you, Orlando and Cate and Orlando. So happy to have you in the house. Today we are talking about rollover crashes on Lawyers in the House with Montlick and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that rollovers are only in about 3% of crashes, but they account for some 30% of deaths on the road.
05:58	VERONICA: Now, let’s define what a rollover crash is. I think some of us have seen these videos. I watched several of them before we came into the studio today just to sort of get an idea of what they look like. And sometimes they look pretty terrifying. So, what is a rollover? Does that mean my car tips? Or is it like I’m literally upside down? ORLANDO: Well, I think a rollover by definition would be a vehicle that either ends up on its roof or on its side. And it can get there in different ways.
06:26	ORLANDO: You can either be a single driver, you know, one car accident where the driver somehow makes an error, or it can also be from a collision. VERONICA: All right. Now, is there always and this may be jumping ahead here, is there always going to be a case if I’m hurt in a rollover? Do I have to have been involved in one with another person? CATE: No, not at all. VERONICA: Go ahead, though. CATE: I would say not necessarily. It depends on the circumstances and the situation.
06:58	CATE: So for example, if you roll over and it was not your fault, let’s say maybe an animal ran in front of you or you couldn’t see or you, you know, as long as it wasn’t your own fault, your own negligence, then you would have your own coverage to be able to cover you and compensate you for injuries related to that accident. VERONICA: Now, I talked about Jay Leno at the start of the show. And on his show, Jay Leno’s Garage, he had gotten strapped into a stunt car with one of his favorite stunt car drivers of all time.
07:30	VERONICA: And they were taking some laps or whatever they were doing. And the car flipped several times. It was incredible that we got to see it actually happen because, of course, it was you know mic’d up, and cameras were inside the vehicle as well. So, you could see the incredible ways Jay Leno’s body was like moving around as the car continued to flip. And so of course, whoever was directing it gave us both the wide view and the in-camera view, the in-car view of what you could see.
07:59	VERONICA: And it was just stunning the way that their bodies moved inside that vehicle, how fast it actually happened. And you know they were double strapped in more than like the regular seat belts that we would wear. It was like a race car. You know So they had the two belts over the over the shoulder strapping them in. ORLANDO: It was like a car seat for a child. VERONICA: Yes, exactly. Well said Orlando, but it was still the way that their bodies moved in there. I can’t and Jay Leno, both of them were fine. They walked out.
08:29	He thought it was great, you know, but he thought his wife was going to be mad at him when she saw the video. That has got to be, even if you walk away from an accident the way Jay Leno did. So frightening and the chances for injury. Amazing. ORLANDO: They really are. And you know the big thing about rollovers is you know there’s a lot of driver error that happens in it. And you talked about wearing the seatbelt. I mean, number one, when you get in the vehicle, you should have the seat belt on, and that will stop a number of problems when in a rollover.
09:03	ORLANDO: Part of the issue with rollers, too, is a driver or a passenger will be ejected from the vehicle. And if you have your seat belt on, I don’t want to say it’s impossible, but it’s very difficult to be ejected if the seat belts on. It’s a very simple thing. And it’s it’s kind of is amazing. We’re talking about that earlier that people still don’t put their seatbelt on. CATE: Oh, yeah. When I was just saying with cars as they are now, you cannot sit in the car for more than a few seconds in any seat without your seatbelt on without the car beeping at you very loudly.
09:39	CATE: And so again, I think with our background research on this and our experience over the years with rollover cases, I think seat belts is the most important thing to reiterate. And one of the other statistics here is that 66% of the occupants that were killed in 2019 rollover accidents were unrestrained, not wearing seat belts. So, it makes a huge difference. VERONICA: That is very sobering. And I remember hearing from an expert who was an accident investigator, Rusty Hyde, I believe, is his name.
10:11	VERONICA: And he was saying that in a rollover, there are so many ways to die. Ejections, as the two of you mentioned, getting run over by the vehicle when it’s rolling, hitting the pavement, inside the car, people hitting each other and people being on the roof when the roof hits. This one crash can cause so many different types of injuries. ORALNDO: It really can. And just to illustrate the point, recently we had a case where a mom’s driving. She had her seat belt on.
10:39	ORLANDO: Her 25-year-old son is in the passenger side, just going through an intersection. It was a rural area. So, the speed limits are a little higher, usually in rural areas where you’re going through an intersection. The other driver just made a left turn right in front of her. The vehicle tipped over sideways. She basically walked away. She was banged up. And unfortunately, the son passed away because he didn’t have a seat belt on. And it’s sad to see, but again, we emphasize such a simple thing. But if you put that seat belt on, your chance of survival just grows immensely.
11:10	VERONICA: What a sobering example, Orlando. Coming up on Lawyers in the House with Montlick, who’s more likely to be involved in a rollover crash and know this. They don’t just happen to those folks. They can happen to anybody. That’s straight ahead here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB. ANNOUCNER: You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8:00 a.m.
11:37	ANNOUNCER: every Sunday if you want to listen live on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Welcome back to the House. Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB. I’m Veronica Waters here with Montlick Injury Attorneys Orlando Marra and Cate Powell. We’re talking about rollovers. And as we left our last segment, Orlando was just talking about this horrific accident from which a mother walked away, but her 25-year-old son did not. He was unrestrained.
12:06	VERONICA: She was wearing her seatbelt in their rollover, and that was the outcome. How did her son die? ORLANDO: Her head unfortunately struck the windshield, and it was just a traumatic head injury. VERONICA: Were you able to help her through that? And also, if you’re talking about personal injury, that’s one thing. But the feelings that she must have also dealt with. ORLANDO: Yeah, we try our best with that. I mean, it’s difficult because, you know, she lost her son.
12:34	ORLANDO: There’s not a lot you can do, but we try our best to talk to her and get her through it. I think that, and she was a former client too, so we did have some, I knew her a little bit already, so that helped as well. We have a lot of clients that come back to us over the years. And unfortunately, she’s been back a few times, but she handled it pretty well considering. I mean, that’s a tough thing to go through. VERONICA: Absolutely. Now, I’ve learned from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that rollovers are more likely in crashes involving young drivers or happening on rural curves.
13:10	VERONICA: But they can happen to anyone. CATE: My story is about my brother. And he was he, I think, was one or two years from getting his driver’s license. So, he falls in the young driver category. But he was coming home one night from hanging out with friends on the highway, and it was dark, and it was wintertime, and there was a patch of black ice on the highway.
13:38	CATE: And he hit the black ice, skidded, and then flipped kind of into an embankment area. And the car was on its roof, and he walked out. He was wearing his seatbelt. So just to reiterate that, he had his seatbelt on. The back windshield had cracked and there was kind of a hole in it. So, he broke out the rest of the glass and crawled out of the back, called the police, and everything was fine.
14:07	CATE: But I think that that story just kind of two points to reiterate on it, which is that he was in a very small BMW sedan. So even a lot of people think of rollovers happening with top heavy cars, large cars, SUVs, that sort of thing. But they can really happen with any car. And it’s surprising and scary how quickly they can happen or how quickly you can lose control.
14:36	CATE: Even though he tried and thought he had control over the car, it ended up rolling over. So luckily, he was OK. And again, that reiteration on the fact that he was wearing his seatbelt. VERONICA: It is accurate. And we’ll talk about that coming up on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. That top heavy vehicles are most likely. But again, it doesn’t mean that nobody else is susceptible. ORALNDO: Correct. And it’s similar to this. I was in a firsthand situation. My wife and I were coming back in the evening.
15:06	ORLANDO: We’re visiting Niagara Falls, where originally were from. We lived in Florida at the time. And she was driving. I was in the passenger side. We went through an intersection. A drunk driver ran a red light, kind of careened off another vehicle, and somehow caught us on the driver front side of the vehicle. And I just ORLANDO: remember being lifted in the air and ended up on the side, on the side of our vehicle. Don’t remember how we got out of there, but we got out. And the interesting thing was afterwards, we both were like, oh, let’s just go home.
15:38	ORLANDO: We just need a ride home. We’re fine. And so, we waited. The ambulance came and talked to them. No, we’re fine. Just need a ride home. And the police took a while to get there. And by the time the police got there, I think the adrenaline started to wear off a little bit. And I was still, let’s just go home. And then my wife said, well, you know, my leg hurts a little. Maybe I should have it looked at. And then she started to get bruising on her face. So, the ambulance driver kind of talked to Cindy going to the emergency room.
16:06	ORLANDO: And it turned out my wife had a severe concussion, upper jaw fracture, which needed surgery, a lower jaw fracture, which needed wiring, a cervical disc herniation, broken ribs, and the ankle was so badly broken she needed a screw and a plate in it. And we were ready to go home. I mean, it was fine. I guess the point there would be when you’re in these accidents, sometimes you got to give it a little time or maybe you should go get checked out because, you know, if we had gone home, I don’t know what would have happened.
16:37	ORLANDO: You know, the drunk driver was arrested. And as far as I know, he hopefully did a little time in jail. We never really followed up with it, but I know that the police were all over him. VERONICA: All right. Coming up on Lawyers in the House with Montlick, what we can do to prevent our own rollover crashes. That’s straight ahead. I’m Veronica Waters. Don’t go away. ANNOUNCER: You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8:00 a.m. every Sunday on 95.5 WSP.
17:10	VERONICA: And welcome back to the House. Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB. I’m Veronica Waters back with Cate Powell and Orlando Marra, two of my favorite Montlick Injury Attorneys. They have been educating us on rollover crashes and how they can happen to anyone. They are one of the most deadliest types of accidents that you will see on the road. And if you missed any of those great nuggets, don’t worry. We got you.
17:36	VERONICA: Make sure you subscribe to the Lawyers in the House podcast on your favorite platform. Get every episode as soon as it drops each and every week. And we are looking forward to having some fun with you on all platforms social. You can find us at Montlick Law. Don’t forget to visit us at lawyersinthehouse.com. You can drop us a question 24/7. Cate Powell, Orlando Marra, we’re talking about rollover crashes. And Orlando just finished telling us about his own personal experience with a rollover when he and his wife were hit by a drunk driver on the road.
18:09	VERONICA: You had to get talked into going to the hospital by the ambulance driver. I have to ask you, Orlando. Were you an attorney at the time that happened? ORLANDO: Yes, I was. VERONICA: Okay. And sir. ORLANDO: However, I think, you know, when you’re in the middle of something, everything you know may go out the window and you basically your head’s a little foggy, your adrenaline’s pumping. And I think my mindset was just to get out of there.
18:38	ORLANDO: I just wanted to go home and get it over with. And as I talked about, it would have been probably dangerous for my wife to do that. So, you know, you almost have to remind yourself that what is the correct thing to do at the time? And I think like we talked about, the best thing in that kind of an accident is to get checked out and make sure everything’s okay. VERONICA: Your injuries were so serious, and you just really didn’t feel them at the time or your wife’s especially. ORLANDO: My wife’s worst myself. Yeah.
19:04	ORLANDO: And I think you just, you know, when you’re, again, we’re in the middle of something, it’s hard to think, think rationally, you know, and you need to go to the hospital, get checked out or urgent care or something because there’s just so many things that could happen in that type of accident. And I think you talked a little bit about Jay Leno. You know, if somebody could actually see themselves in a rollover accident, I think they would not hesitate to go to the hospital.
19:31	ORLANDO: But I think when you get out of it, your body’s guarding you with adrenaline, and I think you don’t think quite the way you should. VERONICA: Yeah, we’ve done an episode talking specifically about traumatic brain injuries, and we’ve talked about the physics that go into causing those to happen. Even if you don’t actually hit your head physically on a part of the car, the jostling is so severe that you can still have a TBI. And I actually have a friend who experienced that.
19:58	VERONCIA: It is the force in that video, and in case you missed the first half of the show, folks, you’ll need to go back and get the history. But I’ll just tell you, Jay Leno’s garage had an episode in which he was involved in a rollover crash. And because it was for the show, there were cameras inside, and you could see how severe it was. It’s so scary. It’s so scary. You know, he looked pretty cool when he was going through it. He wasn’t yelling or anything or cussing like I probably would have been.
20:23	VERONICA: But to understand just how dangerous these accidents are, remember that about 30% of fatalities are caused by rollovers, which are only 3% of crashes. Now, the Department of Transportation tells us that 78% of rollover crashes are caused by driver error. Shocking. ORLANDO: It is. I think there are a number of things that a driver can do to help prevent this kind of situation.
20:55	ORLANDO: I mean, first, the driver, their condition. I mean, going into the vehicle, the obvious would be you shouldn’t be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Or one that comes up a lot too is sleep deprivation, or you’re just too exhausted, you knew you shouldn’t be driving, and you give it a shot anyways. And I think those are the things that a driver certainly can do before they even get into the vehicle. And like we’ve talked about a number of times, and it bears repeating, is put your seat belt on. VERONICA: Yep. Yeah, put your seat belt on. You were going to say something, Cate.
21:25	CATE: I was going to say, you know even as we see advances in technology and we see cars coming out with electronic stability control, traction control, and all of that, we even see self-driving cars out there. I think the important thing is for each driver to remember that the responsibility is on you as the individual, no matter what the circumstance or situation is while you’re driving, is to do everything that Orlando said. Make sure that you’re awake and alert. Make sure that you’re not speeding.
21:55	CATE: Make sure that you’re paying attention. Not just of you possibly rolling over, but what are the other cars on the roadway doing as well. So, it’s really up to the individual driver. VERONICA: Yeah. I did see in one of the videos that I was watching for researching the show, there was video footage of a guy who was speeding on some freeway and some he was weaving in and out of traffic in some state and he ran into the back of a taxi and caused the taxi to flip several times.
22:27	VERONICA: I think and they luckily that passenger was able to climb out of the back window. The driver of the taxi was okay. But imagine you’re on the interstate in a taxi minding your own business. Next thing you know, boom, you hit from behind and you’re spinning in the air. It’s hard to look out for somebody else when they’re coming up behind you and you’re just in the right lane minding your own business.
22:50	VERONICA: Now, to that end, there are a lot of companies who have been trying manufacturers in recent years to come up with, as you mentioned, Cate, some techniques and technology, I should say, to help keep us safe on the road. There are these rollover mitigation systems. They have these sensors that are kind of built into sort of help try to center the car and keep them upright when they’re threatening to roll over. But we did mention SUVs, vehicles with higher centers of gravity are more susceptible to them.
23:23	VERONICA: And even when we have these accidents, the manufacturers are trying to some of them are trying to make the roofs more stable to protect you if you do get into a crash. CATE: And again, I’ll just say even with all of that new technology, rollovers are still happening. So, it really is up to the individual driver to take responsibility.
23:52	ORALNDO: Just to that end, even small things like overloading the SUV, it’s come up a lot where the vehicle is not properly loaded or you’re traveling and you put too much in the back of the SUV, you become much more susceptible. Even just a slight driver error where you go off the road and try to reconnect, reestablish your road, the vehicle can tip over because of the overloading of a vehicle. VERONICA: That’s a great point. There are a lot of things that can cause rollovers that seem pretty innocent.
24:21	VERONICA: That is one of them. Pulling a trailer, which could veer and cause things to go off balance. Too many people in a vehicle, especially one of those with the higher centers of gravity, like an SUV or speeding, of course, negligent driving and inclement weather. Bad weather also plays a big role in this. We can’t do anything about the weather, but we can do something about our own behavior. ORLANDO: Correct, about the way you drive in bad weather. Correct. You know, and obviously rain. You don’t get a lot of winter here, but snow and a little ice.
24:52	ORLANDO: And the one thing I think, I’ve had a few cases over the years that cause wet leaves. I think people don’t realize how significant that could be in the roadway, and that causes problems. So, there’s a number of things that a driver can do. And really just also taking care of their vehicle, you know, knowing that the tires and the brakes are in good working order. VERONICA: Yeah, the anti-lock brake systems are another safety feature. Right. But again, you got to be able to pay attention, know how to step on the brakes, know how to use them and watch your own behavior out there on the roll on the road.
25:24	VERONICA: My husband drives a pickup truck, which is one of the, you know, of course, higher center of gravity, another vehicle that we see a lot of. We’re sitting here in Georgia, but everybody drives pickups, right? And they are also dangerous. Although my husband is a very careful driver. Good. He’s amazing. I call him grandpa sometimes. Can you tell me a little bit about a little bit about your personal experience? Tell me about your personal experience as an attorney dealing with the aftermath of rollover crashes with your clients?
25:59	ORALNDO: Well, you know, the biggest part, of course, is that there’s usually some type of traumatic injury, something serious. And what you try to do is, first of all, hopefully they’ve been examined and taken care of initially, but also try to find them follow-up care that would help them, you know, come around and help them become where they were before the accident.
26:24	VERONICA: Now, the traumatic injuries that you’re talking about, are they mostly brain injuries or you see because I’m assuming that because of the force, there’s a lot of TBI, but is it I guess it’s physical stuff too. Your wife had a broken ankle. Are they like most common injuries that you see in rollovers or no? CATE: Well, I don’t know if I have any kind of common injuries. I think it’s really and like you were saying earlier, there’s so many different ways that a person can be injured from a rollover that it’s really any part of the body.
26:58	CATE: I had a case when I first started practicing, very traumatic. And this was actually an Emory student who was a pedestrian at a crosswalk trying to get across the street to his dorm when another Emory student came barreling down Clifton, where it’s on a hill, on an incline, and there’s a curb right there. And she tried to push through a yellow light, hit a car that was trying to cut the left turn on the yellow light, spun out of control, and then her car flipped on its side, and it was an SUV.
27:31	CATE: So again, all of those factors impacting it. And as it flipped on its side, it hit all of the pedestrians that were standing at the kind of crosswalk at the corner there. And so, in terms of injuries for that one, and like Orlando said, it is always almost always a very traumatic injury, but my client had fifth and sixth degree burns, which I, at that point, wasn’t even very familiar.
27:58	CATE: I’d only heard of the first, second, and third-degree burns, but it was burn all the way down to the bone on his legs. So very traumatic. And I think that story just kind of reiterates the speed element, driving safely around a curve, the SUV having the high center of gravity, and then also another point, which is just even as a pedestrian, you’ve got to be on the lookout, be careful and cautious, and stand as far back from the street as possible, especially a busy street like that.
28:30	VERONICA: Cate Powell and Orlando Marra here with us on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Coming up, the MCA is on the way. It’s the Montlick closing argument. Don’t miss it. ANNOUNCER: You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 8:00 a.m. on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Hey friends, welcome back to the House Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB.
29:03	VERONICA: I’m Veronica Waters, here with Montlick Injury Attorneys, Orlando Marra and Cate Powell. Cate, you were just telling us this incredible story about one of your clients, victim of a rollover accident. Whatever happened with him? CATE: So he did recover. He had permanent scarring. But he was already pre-med. He ended up switching from Emory to Morehouse, but he completed his undergrad, then went on to medical school. And so, he’s doing good. We’re still in touch with him.
29:32	CATE: We feel like he’s kind of one of the family. But he survived that and he’s doing okay. VERONICA: What a wonderful path that he ended up on after such a life-threatening incident came out of nowhere. So, you’ve been waiting for this all hour long, and I’m not going to keep you away from it for one second longer. It’s time for the Montlick closing argument. Cate and Orlando, the floor is yours.
29:59	ORLANDO: Well, I think just to reiterate everything we’ve discussed, to help minimize a driver’s ability to take care of himself and to minimize the risk of a rollover. We talked about certainly the driver condition, which is never drink and drive or use any kind of drugs that you would alter your state. Also, you want to be well rested and not tired when you drive.
30:27	ORLANDO: And we’ve also didn’t talk about it too much, but also put the phone down. You know, that’s a serious problem. And I’m sure we’ve all seen people on the road with their head down on the phone. And I mean, just when you look down at your phone for two seconds, you’ve already traveled. If you’re going 55 miles an hour, 100 yards and people don’t realize how quickly they’re moving, and the other vehicles are moving. So, I would say that’s significant. You know, we want the driver to be safe and more importantly, the people around them to be safe as well.
30:58	CATE: And I would just absolutely agree with everything that Orlando just said and reiterate a point from Orlando’s personal story, which is that if you’ve been involved in a rollover accident, go and get checked out. Because for anyone that’s been involved in an accident, you’re going to have adrenaline running, but you’re going to want to get checked out, see if you’re OK. You wouldn’t want to worsen your injuries. And you’re going to want to just take the best care of yourself as possible.
31:26	VERONICA: Can you imagine what would have happened if you and your wife had not gone to the hospital that night? ORALNDO: Yeah, I hate to think about it. Yeah, exactly. And again, you’re just in an altered state, and you just need to try to be rational and do the right thing for yourself. VERONICA: Cate, when your brother was in his accident, you said he walked away too. But what was he like after that? I mean, did he have those? Was he in that sort of adrenaline dump where he couldn’t feel anything for a while? CATE: He had the adrenaline.
31:53	CATE: It was nighttime, so he went and got checked out the very next day and just confirmed that everything was fine, and he was OK. But there is always that kind of emotional trauma that you carry with you. He’ll still bring it up sometimes. And he wasn’t able to drive for a couple of months after that because he lost confidence. And it was just such a scary thing that happened that he didn’t think was possible with that car. And he was trying to be safe. But it is possible, and it does happen a lot.
32:24	VERONICA: Even when you’re trying to do everything right, even if you walk away from an accident that could have been no fault of your own, you’re left with a scar. Even if there’s not a physical injury, it still scars you. And Montlick’s mission is, of course, not just to help people with personal injuries, but to try to prevent them in the first place and try to keep people safe on the roads. To that end, make sure that you check out Montlick’s iridesafe.com, which gives you all of the advice you need to know about how to keep you and your loved ones and strangers safe on the road.
32:57	VERONICA: Until next time on Lawyers in the House, I want to say thank you so much to Cate Powell and Orlando, Montlick Injury Attorneys. I’m your girl, Veronica Waters, and we will see you next week. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Catch us live every Sunday, 8:00 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.

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