October 29, 2015 — Lawsuits have been filed by the families of three people who died and one person who was injured in head-on crashes with Trinity Industries ET-Plus guardrail, according to ABC News.
An attorney in Dallas has filed a multi-family complaint against Trinity for “gross negligence.” According to the website, victims include:
- Jose Cruz Diance: Off-duty LAPD officer in California drove a Ford F150 into a Trinity guardrail. It entered his truck, pierced his pelvic and groin area, and ejected him from the truck. He was pronounced dead at UCLA hospital.
- Adam Coster: Virginia man drove a 2000 Acura Inspire into a Trinity guardrail, which pierced his car and impaled his body. He was found dead at the scene by witnesses.
- Jennifer Penn: Kentucky resident who drove a 1995 Dodge Neon into a Trinity Guardrail during wet conditions. The guardrail pierced her car and impaled her, crushing her pelvis and causing severe internal bleeding. She died several days later after multiple surgeries.
- Christopher McQuire: Illinois resident who hit a Trinity Guardrail on New Year’s Eve in 2009. He suffered extensive injuries to his pelvis, ribs, sternum, lungs, and kidney, but survived.
Trinity Industries has vigorously defended the safety of the ET-Plus, which is supposed to prevent serious injuries by absorbing the impact of an oncoming car and deflecting the guardrail harmlessly away.
In 2012, Trinity was hit by a whistle-blower lawsuit by Joshua Harman, a former competitor who lost his business in a patent dispute. During the dispute, Harman discovered that Trinity had quietly modified the design of the ET-Plus around 2005 without safety-testing it or telling the government.
Those design changes saved about $2 in materials, shaving inches off the guardrail exit gap, feeder chute, and height. They may have also made the guardrail more likely to “throat lock” and impale oncoming cars. In June 2015, federal judges upheld a jury verdict in Texas and ordered Trinity to pay $663 million for defrauding the government.
Do I have a Trinity Guardrail Injury Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting ET-Plus guardrail induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured in a head-on crash with a guardaril, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Product Liability Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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