Car accidents kill or injure millions of people every year. They’re the reason for numerous car safety technologies, like seatbelts, airbags, and head up displays. In addition, preventing car accidents is the purpose of numerous federal and state safety agencies, each of which researches and implements safety technologies that can make roads safer, as well.
However, there’s a lot of money that can be made in this area, and companies have been taking advantage of it for years. Now, an investigation into one of these roadside safety technologies – guardrails – is revealing how far companies have gone to make money, and how much the public has been put at risk.
This blog post will focus on the issue, while Wednesday’s will delve into the money-making testing scheme surrounding some dangerous guardrail models.
Not All Guardrails are the Same
Not many drivers notice guardrails, the metal barriers that prevent cars from going off the road on highways. Importantly, though, there are a handful of ways for engineers to construct the beginning of a guardrail, which would act just like a dangerous spear if it were not covered or protected in some way. Unfortunately, many of these methods are faulty, and can themselves injure drivers who hit the very start of a guardrail in a car accident.
One method is to have metal railing rise from the ground before running along the length of the highway. However, this technique, called a “turndown,” often led to cars hitting the railing’s incline and flipping over, making for a more serious car accident than would have happened, otherwise.
Other methods have tried different ways of diverting a car from the dangerous start of a guardrail, or have acted as shields for the car that curl the metal railing away from the vehicle. However, these techniques are also fraught with difficulties, as well.
X-LITE Guardrail Ends Now Under Scrutiny
Another guardrail model is the X-LITE End Treatment. These guardrail endings have a flat plate at the tip, and several sheaths of metal railing that “telescope” into each other. Together, this setup uses the flat plate to slow the car down while the impact shoves the first section of the dangerous railing inside the second section, and then the second section inside the third section.
The X-LITE End Treatment, though, has been linked to several car accidents that turned fatal after the design failed, letting the guardrail penetrate into the vehicle at high speeds and impale the driver.
Investigations into why the X-LITE was used, though, have uncovered corruption on a grand scale, which we’ll cover in our next blog post.
St. Joseph Car Accident Attorneys at the Smith Law Office
Car accidents are bad enough when all of the safety mechanisms work the way they’re supposed to work. When they don’t, though, it can lead to even more drastic and life-altering injuries.
If you or someone you love has been hurt in the St. Joseph or Kansas City area in a car accident, you need the personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office to help you through. By working as your legal representative, we can ensure you get the compensation you need and deserve for your injuries. Contact us online or call our law office at (816) 875-9373.