Defending Victims of Severe Guardrail Accident Injuries
Driving down our roads and highways, we often see extreme guardrail damage due to drivers leaving the road and striking a guardrail. Roadway departure crashes account for more than 50% of all motor vehicle crashes (ATSSA.com). Guardrails are designed to lessen the impact of an off-road crash, but many times contact with the guardrail can cause serious injuries and death.
The guardrail may not perform properly because of a product defect. In some instances, contact with guardrail causes a bend or kink in the rail that forms a spear and enters the driver’s compartment causing catastrophic injuries.
Russ Briggs has successfully litigated guardrail product defect cases, including a guardrail death case which resulted in significant recovery for the victim’s family.
There are other reasons why the guardrail may endanger the traveling public. The causes may be improper guardrail placement, installation, or maintenance of the guardrail that affects the safety performance of the guardrail. There are specific guidelines and practices concerning the placement of guardrails. The entity installing the guardrail must ensure that the guardrail meets governmental and industry placement standards, or the guardrail could fail and cause injury. Guardrails are often installed by contractors. There are instances where the improperly installed guardrail causes damage and injury because the installer did not follow the guardrail manufacturer’s strict guidelines and the guardrail fails to perform as designed.
In Texas and other states, the guardrails are typically not routinely inspected for maintenance defects. The guardrail manufacturers typically do not perform service performance evaluations, and the federal and state governments typically do not perform routine maintenance of guardrails. As a result, the guardrails can become defective and may lead to failures increasing the chance catastrophic injuries and death.
If you or someone you know has collided with a guardrail, you should 1) Call our firm immediately at (346) 483-7615, 2) Take photographs of the damaged guardrail and your vehicle; and 3) preserve your vehicle for inspection. The experienced lawyers at Fibich, Leebron, Copeland & Briggs stand ready to investigate your guardrail case.
