Semi Truck Tire Blowout Accidents In Kansas City

Countless drivers have witnessed a sudden frightening truck tire blowout when sharing the road with a semi-truck or have seen tire strips littering the roadways. Most of the time, an experienced truck driver maintains control of their truck during a blowout, but some tire blowouts result in a serious or catastrophic truck accident. When a truck loses control on a high-speed highway, other vehicles may be unable to avoid a collision, resulting in an accident—including chain reaction or multi-vehicle collisions. Liability may be difficult to assign without the help of a Kansas City truck accident attorney.

What Causes Most Truck Tire Blowout Accidents In Kansas City?

Keeping trucks operating safely on the road takes multiple entities doing their part to ensure the safest possible transportation of goods and services. Unfortunately, it only takes one instance of negligence, oversight, or error to cause a serious accident. Most dangerous truck tire blowouts result from the following circumstances:

• Negligent truck maintenance resulting in worn tires
• Underinflated or overinflated tires
• Defective tires
• Overloaded trucks
• Unbalanced cargo
• Overly frequent braking
• Hazardous road conditions
• Debris in the roadway
• Extreme temperatures
• Failure to check tire pressure

FMCSA regulations require regular inspections, routine truck maintenance, and meticulous record-keeping. This is all a part of the duty of care trucking companies have to take all reasonable measures to prevent accidents and injuries.

Liability for Truck Tire Blowout Accidents in Kansas City

Motorists in smaller vehicles are vulnerable to serious injuries in accidents involving large commercial trucks that outweigh them by as much as 76,000 pounds. Around 70% of injuries in truck accidents happen to motorists in smaller vehicles, not the driver of the much larger truck. When an accident occurs and injury victims suffer serious damages, the liable party’s insurance must cover the damages. Depending on the circumstances, liable parties for truck accidents caused by tire blowouts could be any of the following:

• The truck driver
• The trucking company
• A truck maintenance company
• A freight loading company
• The manufacturer of a defective tire
• A negligent road maintenance company

Depending on the accident investigation results, one or more parties may be held liable for a victim’s damages under Missouri’s pure comparative negligence laws. Common damages include property damage, medical expenses, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering.

How Do Kansas City Truck Tire Blowouts Cause Accidents?

A sudden tire blowout can cause a driver to lose control of their truck due to trailer fishtailing, sudden braking, or an unbalanced truck or trailer. When a trailer comes out of alignment with the truck due to a tire blowout it sometimes causes a jackknife accident (truck and trailer crash in the shape of a partly open jackknife) or a tip-over accident. Oncoming vehicles may be unable to stop or swerve in time to avoid a collision. In other cases, flying tire shrapnel can startle other drivers, or impede their vision causing accidents. Some truck tire blowout accidents cause chain reaction accidents on multilane highways.

How Can a Truck Accident Lawyer In Kansas City Help?

Navigating a truck accident compensation claim differs from the usual car accident claim process due to the multiple entities that could bear liability and the need for an experienced investigation with access to accident reconstruction experts and other resources. Call the Kansas City injury attorneys at Miller & Hine Attorneys at Law for an evaluation of your case so we can help you recover the compensation you need to move forward.