When a truck backs over a car, it’s an override accident, and when a car moves under the rear of a truck or trailer, it’s an underride accident. A Philadelphia truck accident attorney can help the injured victims of truck accidents recover compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and more.
In 2024, more than 4,500 fatalities occurred as a result of truck or trailer accidents in the United States. Thousands of other victims sustained severe injuries. For drivers and passengers in cars, a truck accident is the most frightening and dangerous type of traffic crash imaginable.
When a commercial trailer or truck’s safety features, such as underride guards, fail to perform as intended or are poorly designed, the truck or trailer manufacturer may be held legally accountable under product liability laws in all fifty states.
How Do Product Liability Laws Work?
Product liability laws hold manufacturers, distributors, and sellers accountable for the injuries caused by defective products. In the context of underride accidents, a product liability claim against a truck or trailer manufacturer typically falls into one of three categories:
- If the design of the underride guard or the truck or trailer is flawed, it may fail to prevent a vehicle from sliding underneath.
- Manufacturing defects arise when a manufacturing mistake causes a product to be defective. Examples include using substandard materials, improper welding, or a faulty assembly that causes the underride guard to detach or collapse on impact.
- A “failure to warn” claim contends that the manufacturer provided inadequate warnings about a product’s potential risks. It could apply if a truck or trailer manufacturer knew about a weakness in an underride guard’s design but did not inform consumers or regulators.
In many of these cases, strict liability applies. Strict liability means injured parties do not need to prove a truck or trailer manufacturer was negligent or acted maliciously. Victims must show only that the product was defective and caused or exacerbated their injuries.
What Are the Federal Standards? What Are Their Limitations?
Since 1952, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards have required most commercial vehicles to be equipped with a rear-end protection device, often referred to as a “Mansfield bar” for actress Jayne Mansfield, who died tragically in an underride crash.
Underride guards must meet specific strength and dimensional requirements, including a maximum height of 22 inches from the ground for new vehicles. Still, many safety advocates insist that the federal standards are insufficient.
Tests directed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have shown that many federally compliant rear underride guards fail to prevent underride accidents. Additionally, U.S. truck or trailer manufacturers are not required to install side underride guards.
The Evolving Standard of Care: Beyond Federal Mandates
In the absence of a federal mandate for side guards or in cases where a federally compliant rear guard fails, a product liability case may hinge on the concept of negligence or “foreseeability.” Your Philadelphia truck accident lawyer will develop an effective, appropriate legal strategy.
Under product liability laws, a manufacturer has a “duty of care” to manufacture a reasonably safe product. When injury victims are plaintiffs in product liability cases based on underride accidents, they may claim:
- The truck or trailer manufacturer should have known that underride accidents are a foreseeable risk of their product, given the well-documented history of such accidents and decades of safety research and recommendations.
- The truck or trailer manufacturer could have prevented or mitigated the injuries by incorporating stronger rear guards or adding side underride guards. This argument is supported by the fact that some manufacturers have voluntarily adopted these safety features.
How Can You Prove a Truck or Trailer Manufacturer is Liable for an Underride Accident?
Successfully holding a truck or trailer manufacturer liable requires a meticulous and resource-intensive investigation. Key evidence may include:
- Accident reconstruction: Specialists analyze crash scenes, vehicle damage, and other data to determine if an underride guard failed due to a manufacturing defect or its design was inherently flawed.
- Maintenance and repair records: Records from the trucking company can show whether the underride guard was damaged before the accident or had a history of neglected safety issues.
- A detailed vehicle inspection: A comprehensive inspection of the underride guard is essential. The inspection may find improper welding, weak materials, or design flaws. Inspectors may compare the underride guard to federal and voluntary safety standards.
- Manufacturer documents: A truck or trailer accident attorney may seek internal company documents, such as design plans, crash test data, and safety reports. These documents may prove that the manufacturer knew of a defect but failed to act.
- Expert witness testimony: Expert witnesses can explain complex technical concepts to a jury, demonstrate how a defect caused an injury, and present alternative, safer designs that could have prevented the accident.
What Can A Truck or Trailer Accident Victim Recover?
Product liability law is constantly changing. Courts in many states are holding manufacturers accountable for failing to implement adequate safety measures, even without a federal mandate.
With a product liability claim, the injured victim of an underride accident, with the help of a Philadelphia truck and trailer accident attorney, may recover compensation for pending and future medical expenses, lost wages, projected future lost wages, pain, suffering, and related damages.
Bring Your Truck or Trailer Accident Case to Messa Law
The legal team at Messa Law has secured substantial recoveries for clients in personal injury and product liability cases based on truck and trailer accidents. We don’t prepare cases to settle them; we prepare cases for trial and know what it takes to win the compensation victims need.
Let a Philadelphia truck and trailer accident lawyer at Messa Law handle your underride accident claim. We represent the injured in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. You will owe us no lawyer’s fee until we recover your compensation.
Do not wait until the deadline for taking legal action in your state expires. If you become injured in an underride accident or any other accident that was not your fault, contact our offices to schedule a free initial legal consultation with the team at Messa Law. Call Now.
