Faulty Guardrail Design Company Found Responsible for Deaths
Many of the barriers throughout Illinois are manufactured by Trinity Highway Products; a company based in Dallas, Texas.
Suite 2424, March 10, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Speed limits on the highways throughout Illinois are set to increase as soon as the Illinois Department of Transportation determines it's safe to raise them. Regrettable, one thing they are not factoring into their safety calculations are the effectiveness of the guardrails that are supposed to form a protective barrier around the state's highway system.
Many of the barriers throughout Illinois are manufactured by Trinity Highway Products; a company based in Dallas, Texas. These guardrails are supposed to crumple upon impact, thus absorbing the force of a vehicular collision and reducing the force that is transferred through the vehicle, and ultimately, into the vehicle's occupants. That is how they are supposed to function, but the reality is something far different.
Of particular note, the ET Plus device manufactured by Trinity Highway Products has repeatedly malfunctioned and caused serious injuries to drivers. The device is an end terminal which means that it is affixed to the end of a guardrail. Painted yellow and black for easy visibility in Chicago's varied driving conditions, it is designed to crumple when hit head on, or from the side by a vehicle.
However, the device does not do this and several vehicles and their occupants have been horribly speared by these devices upon impact. In fact, the company altered the structural design of the devices and failed to make note of these changes to the state's who purchased them. As a result, the company was found liable for fraud by a federal jury in Texas.
"As a Chicago wrongful death lawyer, I know there is nothing more reprehensible than a company that deliberately withholds critical safety information regarding a product. Moreover, even though the deficiencies have been exposed, the company has not taken steps to correct the shortfalls," remarked Cary Wintroub.
In light of multiple wrongful death lawsuits pending against Trinity Highway Products, 30 states, including Illinois, have suspended installation of the ET Plus device. "This is a good first step, but it does nothing to prevent injuries caused by devices still "guarding" Illinois' highway system. The next step is to either remove them, or to have the courts order Trinity Highway Products replace them with devices that function properly," explained Chicago wrongful death lawyer Cary Wintroub.