Atlanta Injury Lawyers BlogWoman Killed in Atlanta Accident Involving Flying Tire
Atlanta accident lawyers often see that there’s more than one way negligence can be involved in an accident. Last week, a woman was killed in a wreck that did not involve two vehicles coming into direct contact with each other. According to a news report, a tire from a passenger van became loose, flew off and crashed into a Hyundai Sonata on Interstate 285.
The deceased was a woman from Virginia traveling westbound on I-285 in her Sonata, when she was struck by the rear left tire of a Georgia State University passenger van. Another car was also struck by the runaway tire, but the occupants of that car, fortunately, did not suffer any injuries.
DeKalb County police are investigating the accident. They are likely to look at the maintenance of the passenger van, especially tire checks. A tire coming off a van is not a normal occurrence, and is likely linked to loose lug nuts, poor tire maintenance and other possible factors. The investigation will also likely focus on the policies and procedures that Georgia State has in place to ensure that their vehicles are safe and fit to be on the roadway and whether these policies and procedures were followed in this case.
Runaway tires however, are not as rare as you might think. Serious injuries in the past have been linked with accidents involving commercial trucks in Atlanta, in which the massive tires came loose and flew into vehicles, motorcyclists or pedestrians nearby. A tractor-trailer tire can weigh dozens of pounds, and when it crashes through the windshield of a passenger vehicle, the potential for serious injuries and fatalities is extremely high.
Besides runaway tires, truck tire blowouts can also pose a serious risk of injury or death to motorists nearby. A tire blowout may cause large slabs of rubber to be sent shooting through windshields of cars, with enough force to cause instant death or serious injury. This is especially true of large tractor-trailer truck tires for two reasons: (1) the sheer size of these tires becomes a dangerous obstacle when the rubber is separated from the tire and onto the roadway; and (2) this is more likely to happen with large tractor-trailer tires because the trucking companies regularly use re-treads in order to save money. Unfortunately for everyone else, re-treads separate more easily from the rest of the tire and constitute a real danger to Atlanta interstate drivers.
Robert J. Fleming is an injury lawyer in Atlanta, whose practice is dedicated to the representation of victims of personal injury, in and around the metro Atlanta area. He has been handling wrongful death cases, automobile accident cases, personal injury cases, dental malpractice and medical malpractice lawsuits for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 20 years in and around Atlanta, Georgia and its surrounding areas, including Alpharetta, Austell, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, College Park, Conyers, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you have been seriously injured and would like quality legal representation, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.
