Guardrails Pose Dangerous Conditions on Highways

Trinity Industries, Inc. is a globally dominant producer and seller of highway guardrails, and is also the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. Trinity is facing accusations that recent changes to the design of its guardrails have caused injuries and deaths in highway automobile accidents. Specifically, Trinity’s ET-Plus guardrail reportedly can jam, spearing into a vehicle instead of peeling away. A recent study sponsored by the University of Alabama concluded that the ET-plus design was 1.95 times more likely to produce a severe injury and 3.95 times more likely to produce a fatality than other guardrail designs.

In a recent SEC filing, Trinity revealed that the U.S attorney for Massachusetts subpoenaed Trinity, requesting documents from 1999 to the present relating to the ET plus guardrail. Trinity has stated its intention to cooperate with the request. Last year, a federal jury found Trinity liable for defrauding the government by not disclosing changes to the ET-plus guardrail in 2005.

Highway guardrails are designed to protect, not injure, drivers on our highways. If indeed these guardrails pose unreasonable risk to drivers and passengers, Trinity can be held both criminally and civilly liable for its conduct. This means that an individual injured because of the poor design of these guardrails may pursue a claim against Trinity seeking compensation for their injuries.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident because of the defective design of a guardrail, do not hesitate to contact one of the experienced attorneys at Swartz & Lynch LLP. You may be entitled to compensation for the injuries you have incurred.