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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 [1]:

1. The end terminal: the starting point of the guardrail, also referred to as “end treatment”
2. 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 [2]. 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].

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.

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