A truck accident in St. Joseph sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries. Initial reports say that the accident happened after the brakes failed on one of the vehicles involved.
Truck Accident in St. Joseph Injures One
The incident happened in the afternoon of January 31, 2017, at the intersection of Highway 36 and I-229 in St. Joseph.
A Nissan Titan pickup truck was driving eastbound on Highway 36 when its brakes failed as it approached the on-ramp for I-229. The driver of the pickup truck tried using the emergency brake to come to a stop before going through the intersection, but was unable to stop in time. He ran into the intersection just as a tractor-trailer was turning onto the highway.
The driver of the pickup suffered minor injuries in the truck accident, and was issued a citation for a traffic violation. The tractor-trailer driver wasn’t hurt in the crash.
The accident closed the eastbound lane of Highway 36 for several hours.
Mechanical Failures and Car Accidents
Cars and trucks are complex machines with lots of parts in them. If one of these parts fails or malfunctions, the result can be devastating. Every year, numerous car accidents are the result of a mechanical failure. Each one of these can lead to life-altering personal injuries for those involved.
Just how often car accidents are caused by mechanical failures is difficult to determine. The wreckage from a car accident can cover up evidence of a vehicle malfunction. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that an estimated 2% of the more than two million crashes that happened between 2005 and 2007 were caused by the vehicles involved. However, these numbers only include external mechanical failures that are easily seen, like blown tires or brake failures. Internal mechanical failures were not included.
Other estimates indicate that mechanical failures are a factor in up to 13% of all car accidents.
Mechanical Failures and Products Liability Lawsuits
Based on the initial reports of the crash, car accidents like Tuesday’s between the Nissan Titan and the tractor-trailer can be the basis of a products liability lawsuit. After all, when the brakes fail on your pickup truck, there’s not much you can do to avoid an accident. Getting blamed for the crash would be unfair.
A products liability claim is one way to make the culpable people accountable for the accident they caused. By implicating those who were responsible for making or maintaining the brake system that failed, they can be made to compensate the people they’ve hurt.
St. Joseph Truck Accident Attorneys at the Smith Law Office
Many accidents are caused by faulty or malfunctioning car parts. Unfortunately, it often takes a personal injury attorney to show that this was the case, and to make the responsible party compensate you for your injuries.
The personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office in St. Joseph can help. Contact our law office online or at (816) 875-9373.