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Highway Guardrail Injury Class Action Lawsuit

Guardrails are supposed to improve highway safety. Unfortunately, head-on crashes with guardrail end-terminals can be deadly when the guardrail slices through the oncoming car instead of deflecting away.

What You Can Do & How a Guardrail Class Action Lawsuit Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting guardrail induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know was injured after a head-on crash with a defective guardrail, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Accidents & Personal Injury Litigation Group or call us toll-free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

What is the ET-Plus?

The ET-Plus Guardrail is designed to absorb the impact of an oncoming car in a head-on crash. It has a special end-terminal that works by flattening the guardrail, feeding it through a chute, and deflecting it harmlessly away from the oncoming car.

Whistleblower Lawsuit Claims Guardrail is Defective

Trinity Industries, manufacturer of the ET-Plus, was hit with a whistleblower lawsuit in 2012. The whistleblower, Joshua Harman, was the owner of a competing guardrail-installing business who was involved in a patent dispute with Trinity.

During the dispute, Harman discovered that Trinity changed the design of the ET-Plus in 2005. The length and width of the feeder chute were reduced, which Harman said saves about $2 in materials and makes the terminal impossible to reuse.

Harman says the re-designed ET-Plus is more likely to jam up when hit head-on. Instead of deflecting the guardrail, it acts like a spear that easily slices through oncoming cars and impales passengers in the vehicle. About 500,000 of the guardrails are installed on highways throughout the United States.

Trinity Found Liable for Fraud in 1st Guardrail Lawsuit Trial

In October 2014, Trinity lost a whistleblower lawsuit after a jury in Texas found the company guilty of fraud by failing to tell the government about design modifications to the ET-Plus guardrail. They could be liable for up to $1 billion in damages, in addition to potential liability for compensating people who were injured. Click here to read more.

What is the problem?

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is nationally recognized as a class action law firm, but our attorneys are not filing a guardrail injury class action lawsuit. Instead, we are focusing our efforts on filing individual lawsuits for people who were injured or family members of people who died.

About Class Actions

Class action lawsuits are usually the first thing people think of when they are considering filing a lawsuit against a major corporation. However, class actions can actually have disadvantages for people with very serious injuries. Members often must accept higher attorneys’ fees or a “low-ball” settlement.

Why Our Law Firm is Filing Individual Lawsuits as Opposed to a Guardrail Class Action

Trinity Industries is already facing at least 9 personal injury claims — five involving wrongful death — but none of these cases are part of a class action. Instead, they are individual lawsuits filed by people who have hired personal legal representation.

Our attorneys file individual lawsuits because we believe this is the best way we can help each client maximize their financial recovery. Guardrail injuries are often extremely serious or deadly, resulting in amputation of limbs or permanent disability. Medical expenses and lost income due to time off work can also be devastating.

If you were injured by a defective guardrail, you have a right to seek compensation and justice for your injuries or the loss of a loved one. Our attorneys may be able to help. We work on contingency-fee, which means you pay nothing unless we win.

Do I have a Guardrail Class Action Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting guardrail induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know was injured after a head-on crash with a defective guardrail, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Accidents & Personal Injury Litigation Group or call us toll-free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

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The Schmidt Firm, PLLC has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs' law firms and handles cases in all 50 states. We are very proud of our legal achievements, but equally self-respecting of our firm's reputation for providing personal attention to each and every client we represent.

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