A fatal car accident on Highway 36 appears to have been caused by a tractor trailer’s tires flying off the vehicle’s axle. The freak accident is an example of how some crashes are not the fault of either driver involved, and how products liability law can become implicated in the wreck.
Tires Fly Off Truck, Causing Fatal Car Crash
The truck accident happened last Tuesday, August 4, 2020, on U.S. Highway 36 outside Cameron, Missouri.
According to the police report, a tractor trailer was going eastbound on Highway 36 in the middle of the afternoon. For an unknown reason, the tires came off one of the truck’s axles. The tires went across the highway median and into oncoming traffic. There, they hit a Ford Mustang head on. The Mustang went off the roadway and down an embankment.
The driver of the Mustang was killed in the accident. No one else was in the vehicle. The driver of the truck was not hurt, as he managed to bring his truck to a controlled stop.
An Uncommon Cause of Car Crashes: Product Defects
Most of the time, car accidents are caused by the negligence of one of the drivers involved in it. However, occasionally there are accidents where the ultimate cause of the crash was something that went wrong with one of the vehicles. These accidents can be tricky, because the person responsible for the accident could be:
- The driver,
- A mechanic, or
- The company that designed, manufactured, or marketed the device that broke.
The Driver Can Still Be Responsible for a Defective Part
It might seem counterintuitive, but the driver can be legally responsible for some defective parts on their vehicle. If there was clearly something wrong with the part, but the driver either failed to notice it or they actively ignored it, they can be held responsible and liable for the crash it causes.
A classic example is when a tire is so worn that it is almost guaranteed to fail.
Mechanics Can Be Liable for Bad Repairs
In some cases, the car problem was the result of an auto mechanic’s negligence. If they do not take reasonable steps to fix a vehicle or let it back on the road when it is obviously unsafe to drive, they may be held liable for a crash.
Auto Part Companies are Often Responsible for Defects
However, the most common culprit of a defective auto part is the company that designed or manufactured it. If the part was designed in a needlessly dangerous way, or if the part was not manufactured according to the design, the company can be held liable for a crash that the defective part caused.
For example, the company Takata has been held liable for many car accident injuries that resulted from their defective airbags.
St. Joseph Car Accident Lawyers at the Smith Law Office
Car accidents that were caused by a defective product can complicate the process of recovering the compensation that you deserve. The personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office in St. Joseph can help. Contact them online or call their law office at (816) 875-9373.