Flying 18 Wheeler Tires Cause Deadly Accident
Oct 22, 2011
Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) October 21, 2011 – When 18-wheeler tires come off a big rig, the results typically involve a gruesome accident. This case was no exception.
“This reported case painted a very grim accident scene in which one woman died instantly and another managed to survive with just cuts to her arm,” said Brooks Schuelke, an Austin personal injury lawyer with Perlmutter & Schuelke, L.L.P. “The miraculous part of this accident was that the woman who survived was 82 years old. However, her daughter who drove the car was crushed by two truck wheels and died on impact. Sadly, these types of loose-tire wrecks are more common than one would think, and the results are almost always catastrophic.”
It is not just the fact that 18-wheelers are bigger than the rest of the traffic on the road today. They also have a higher incidence of being involved in accidents for reasons ranging from driver inattention to an improperly loaded flat deck. Some big rigs are also not properly maintained and do not undergo mechanical inspections. “There is a good chance that something along those lines happened in this instance,” Schuelke observed.
How did an 18-wheeler lose two of its tires? The answer to that will remain a mystery until the police have finished their investigation into the perplexing accident. What they could find was that the impact was so great, as the twisted wreckage of the Chevy clearly revealed. Broken glass was all across the highway. As far as anyone could tell, the two wheels of the flatbed truck came loose, shot across four lanes of traffic on the interstate and crushed the Chevy when they collided.
The Chevy driver had no time to respond, as the wheels came out of nowhere, meeting her head on, with no place to go. No one was speeding, nor fell asleep at the wheel, or found to be texting or driving under the influence. It was an accident that on the surface had no explanation. “While it may well have been a freak accident, further investigation is definitely required to figure out why the wheels separated from the big rig,” stated Schuelke. Government accident data for truck accidents does reveal that just about one out of every four big rigs currently on the road is mechanically unsound and not safe.
The trucker did not stop at the scene, and this may have been because he was unaware he had lost two tires. He was, however, stopped by a witness to the awful carnage, but he chose not to remain and wait for the police. Police were also able to determine from other motorists in the area that at least two of them had gone out of their way to let the trucker know there was something not quite right with his wheels.
The mother of the Chevy driver may want to discuss this case with an experienced personal injury lawyer, as there may be more to this story than meets the eye. “If further investigation reveals an improperly maintained truck, and the driver was aware of that, as were his employers, then this can definitely be negligence,” Schuelke said. “I’d advise anyone in a similar situation to immediately call an Austin injury lawyer and talk about the case details. Time is of the essence in these cases.”
To learn more or to contact an Austin personal injury lawyer or Austin personal injury attorney, visit http://www.civtrial.com.
Perlmutter & Schuelke, LLP
1717 W. 6th Street, Suite 375
Austin, Texas 78703-4868
Call (512) 476-4944
