Defective Tire Failure Causes Injury Truck Accident
A recent truck accident case in Washington was the result of defective truck equipment. This interstate highway truck accident ended up with the truck crashing through a guard rail and rolling over into a median. Authorities say the truck driver lost control of the vehicle because of a bad tire. The tire allegedly came apart before the incident and caused the crash. The truck driver was injured during the truck accident.
When a Missouri truck accident occurs because of a defective product, as alleged here, usually a product liability lawsuit will be filed to recover for injuries and resulting damages. However, product liability claims in regard to items such as tires are assessed differently than other product liability claims.
An injury victim can file a product liability claim after a product, while being used in the proper manner, failed to work correctly and caused injury to a consumer. Tires are often hard to assess in terms of being used for the “proper manner.” This is because even when used in the correct manner, in terms of driving, dangerous situations can still be created through driver (consumer) fault.
Drivers can use the product in an inappropriate way in terms of care, causing Missouri truck accidents. For instance, a semi-truck driver may not maintain the tires on his tractor trailer according to the correct safety standards.
The truck driver may be overloading the trailer, underinflating the tires or driving too fast. So, even though the tires were used in the proper manner, the driver arguably failed to maintain the tires properly and could be found liable over and/or in addition to the manufacturer.
However, tire manufacturers also have a duty to warn customers of these instances. So, if a tractor trailer tire manufacturer knows that their truck tires have decreased performance in certain conditions, it is the manufacturer’s duty to warn their customers of such known risks. When manufacturers fail to adequately warn consumers, they will be held liable even if such effects could have been “predictable” to a certain extent.
Additionally, manufacturers alone may not be liable in a truck accident claim where faulty tractor trailer tires are the alleged cause. For example, tire sellers could also be found liable. If a trucking company buys its tractor trailer tires from a company that sells you the wrong size tire, the tire seller could be liable. Any complications arising from the wrong size tractor trailer tire or any truck accidents arising from same, can place liability on the seller. It is also likely the tractor trailer tire manufacturer in this situation will not be involved in the lawsuit because the tire is not actually defective, but the seller was negligent in selling an unfit product.
Missouri truck accident lawsuits are complex. The situations addressed above are a few examples of ways in which liability is determined when equipment failure is alleged to be the cause of a Missouri truck accident.
Additional causes of Missouri truck accidents include:
- Negligence
- Failure to comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
An experienced Missouri truck accident attorney will be able to sort through these issues and evaluate the surrounding circumstances to find out who is liable in your truck accident claim. As partner of Page Cagle, a St. Louis, MO truck accident law firm, I have been aggressively representing injured truck accident victims for the entirety of my career.
If requested, I will immediately alert our truck accident investigation team and begin taking the same action as the truck company and their insurance company.
You can reach me 24 hours a day at 314.322.8515 or toll free at 1.800.500.INJURY (4658). You can also email me at john@pagecagle.com or visit my website, www.TruckAccidentLawGroup.com, for more information.
