You are excited to get to your parents’ home for the family vacation. You’ve been looking forward to this trip for quite some time. This excitement shows on your face as you get into your car for the long drive to your parents’ home, a couple hundred miles away.
You find yourself in a wreck halfway to your destination due to a faulty X-LITE guardrail that pierced the passenger-side of your car. You aren’t sure how it happened or why the guardrail is now inside your vehicle. You know a little bit about guardrails already so you know that something is horribly wrong.
You decide to call your parents so they can notify your family lawyer. You know he will be able to tell you more about any case you might have against the people who assembled the guardrail. Let’s take a closer look at what he’ll tell you.
“Standard Practice for Guardrails”
Your typical guardrail consists of several pieces of metal, which telescope or slide into one another when something strikes it. When this happens, the guardrail absorbs some of the impact of the wreck. It also prevents any loose metal ends from entering the cabin of the vehicle.
Guardrails are typically tested in wrecks with speeds of the vehicles only getting up to 62.2mph. Any speeds higher than that means the guardrail is subject to failures or defects. The most common defect is the pieces of guardrail separating and entering the cabin of the vehicle.
“Failures and Defects”
When there is a failure or defect of the guardrail, pieces of it break apart from the rest of the guardrail. This means that it could pierce the cabin of the vehicle.
If the guardrail pierces the cabin of the vehicle, then there is a good chance that the person inside the vehicle could die. The instructions for X-Lite rails are found to be unclear due to the lack of torque specifications.
This means that there are deficiencies that could result in the guardrail performing very differently than the conditions the rail was originally tested in. The guardrail could break apart and pierce the vehicle rather than telescope like it’s supposed to.
“Why You Need a Lawyer”
The answer to this question is rather simple. If the instructions for the guardrail are unclear, then the resulting wreck is not your fault. It would be the fault of the person who assembled the guardrail and not the person who crashed into it. Because of that, you have a case you can go to court with.
The person who assembled the guardrail would be responsible for the medical bills you incur due to the guardrail piercing your car’s cabin. X-LITE guardrails are faulty in several circumstances, which has led to several states starting the process of replacing the defective guardrails.
Because of this, hazardous conditions on the road may prove to be even more dangerous. This is why you need a lawyer who knows exactly how to prove your case to a court of law. You shouldn’t have to worry about any medicals bills for a wreck that was not your fault to begin with.
Greenville, NC Personal Injury Lawyer Representing Victims of Impaired Drivers
I’m Brian Ricci, a Greenville, NC Faulty Guardrail and Wrongful Death Lawyer. If someone dear to you has been killed or injured in an automobile accident due to gross negligence on the part of government contractors and/or state and local governments, please call me promptly at (252) 777-2222 or 1-800-387-6406 for free, friendly advice.
I am a longtime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
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