Experienced personal injury attorneys serving clients throughout NY, VT and MA that have been injured in a guardrail accident.
We Get Results
Available 24 hours
We emphasize on providing each client with an exemplary level of service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Free Case Evaluations
We work on a contingency fee, which means you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Dedicated & Experienced Lawyers
Our team of experienced lawyers will help you throughout the length of the complicated legal process, so you can concentrate on recovering.
Over $300M in Settlements
Motor Vehicle Collision
Bus Collision
Truck Collision
Tractor Trailer Collision
What causes highway guardrail injury accidents?
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, guardrails function as a system, consisting of 2 key functional components :
- The end terminal: the starting point of the guardrail, also referred to as “end treatment”
- The guardrail face: the length of the guardrail extending along side of the road
One common treatment on the end terminal is an energy absorbing end treatment. This is intended to absorb the energy of vehicular impact. For head on impacts, the end terminal should do the following:
- Absorb the energy of the impact
- Protrude the guardrail away from the vehicle
Unfortunately, due to defective design and faulty construction, numerous people have been killed or severely injured due to the guardrails not performing as intended, rather, the guardrails impaled the vehicles.
Who is at fault for injuries caused by defective guardrails?
Who is at fault can depend on what caused the accident, or, what made the accident worse. Liability can be based on the following involving guardrail accidents:
- Product Liability
- Premises Liability
- Negligence
The group, company, or individual responsible for guardrail accident liability may include the following:
- Guardrail designer, manufacturer, distributor or vendor
- Construction company
- Local, state or federal government
- Individual employee
One guardrail manufacturer, Trinity, has been subject to numerous lawsuits. According to The Safety Institute, Trinity changed the initial design of the ET-Plus guardrail, neglected to disclose the changes made, and later made changes that altered the original design in order to save the company around $50,000 annually. The Safety Institute’s case-control study, in-Service Evaluation of FHWA-Accepted Guardrail Terminals, revealed that the Trinity ET-Plus design was nearly 3 to 4 times more likely to produce a fatal auto accident involving guardrail crashes compared to the ET-2000 design [3].
View References
[1] Guardrail 101 by the U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration – https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/guardrailsafety/guardrail101.pdf
[2] The Safety Institute Responds to Critical FHWA Review – http://www.thesafetyinstitute.org/the-safety-institute-responds-to-critical-fhwa-review-3/
[3] In-Service Evaluation of FHWA-Accepted Guardrail Terminals by UAB School of Engineering – http://www.thesafetyinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/In-Service-Evaluation-of-FHWA-Accepted-Guardrail-Terminals.pdf
Call the Guardrail Accident Attorneys
Our team of guardrail injury lawyers is devoted to protecting your rights and helping you receive the money you deserve. Let our professionals do all the heavy work. Our experienced lawyers will take charge of your case so you can relax and be with your loved ones.
Get Started Today
Think BIG Call The Heavy Hitters® Harding Mazzotti
Since 1994 Harding Mazzotti, LLP has fought for and secured over $1 billion in settlements for our clients.
Our team of 40+ Attorneys and 120+ Support Staff at Harding Mazzotti have spent their careers aggressively fighting for the rights of those injured by someone’s negligence. Personal injury, car accidents, defective drugs, medical malpractice, defective medical devices, social security disability, workers’ compensation, defective products, and more; when you’ve been injured, the Heavy Hitters can help you.
