A collision on Texas Highway 73 resulted in injuries to six people on June 22. The accident, according to a troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, may have been caused by a tire blowout on one of the vehicles.
The accident happened when a 2000 Ford pickup blew its left-front tire, causing the 42-year-old driver to lose control. The vehicle crossed over into oncoming traffic and collided with a westbound vehicle driven by a 24-year-old Port Arthur man. The driver of that vehicle, a 2012 Explorer, was hospitalized, and one of his passengers was airlifted to a local medical center. The pickup driver, a 42-year-old man from La Porte, was uninjured, but four passengers in his vehicle were transported to various hospitals.
Drivers have an obligation to ensure their motor vehicles are functioning properly, which includes regular maintenance. Tires should be checked regularly to prevent blowouts. If a motorist fails to do this and is involved in an accident where his or her tire blows, that driver could be found liable in a subsequent civil suit. However, if that driver had taken the vehicle to an auto shop for standard maintenance and the business failed to notice or fix a tire issue, then the shop could be found culpable in a personal injury lawsuit.
An attorney could assist an individual hurt in an accident like the one described earlier with discovering what caused the blowout. That lawyer may be able to build a case for another party’s negligence by first reviewing the accident report and witness statements from the accident. He or she would likely question a client about the vehicle’s history of maintenance and repair also. If the attorney felt as though the client had grounds to file suit after gathering evidence, he or she would then begin calculating the damages to be sought through litigation.
Source: Beaumont Enterprise, “6 hurt in weekend crash on Texas 73“, June 23, 2014
