Lindsay Corporation X-Lite Guardrail
The attorneys at Kuhlman & Lucas are investigating a potential products liability lawsuit against Lindsay Corporation (NYSE: LNN) (“Lindsay”) and the Missouri Department of Transportation (“MoDOT”) on behalf of a client whose spouse was tragically killed on a major interstate just east of Kansas City, Missouri. The case arose out of an accident that occurred when the decedent traveled off the left side of the interstate and struck the guardrail end terminal. The guardrail end terminal, manufactured by Lindsay and called the “X-Lite”, speared the front of the decedent’s truck and ejected him from the back end of the truck. The decedent’s truck traveled 175 feet along the guardrail before coming to a stop.
The attorneys at Kuhlman & Lucas plan to assert that Lindsay was strictly liable for manufacturing and selling a defective and unreasonably dangerous product that caused the death of the driver. Guardrail end terminals, the rectangular steel heads with yellow and black stripes placed at the end of guardrails, are supposed to protect drivers. Guardrail end terminals are intended to absorb the speed of the collision and peel away as drivers collide with them, even when drivers are traveling at speeds of 60 miles per hour or more. The intended design is supposed to turn the guardrail into the ribbon as the car travels down the guardrail line. In this case, the Lindsay X-Lite completely failed to perform as intended. Rather than protecting our client, the X-Lite skewered the front end of our client’s truck and killed him instantly.
The Lindsay X-Lite end terminal has recently come under public scrutiny. At least seven people have died in six crashes in Tennessee, Virginia, and Missouri due to the X-Lite’s defective design. As of late 2016, the X-Lite was removed from use in the states of Tennessee and Virginia. According to a study performed by an independent contractor hired by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the X-Lite fails to perform appropriately in crashes exceeding 60 miles per hour. Most interstates, upon where guardrails are placed, have speed limits that exceed 60 miles per hour. In March of 2017, a New York State Senator proposed a bill in the New York State Senate directing the commissioner of transportation in New York to prohibit the use of the Lindsay X-Lite end terminal to prevent future tragedies such as our client’s from occurring in the future. In April 2017, the Missouri Department of Transportation committed to a one hundred percent recall of the 400 Lindsay units on Missouri highways.
If you have been injured, or a loved one has been killed or injured due to a guardrail accident, call the attorneys at Kuhlman & Lucas to discuss your rights and possible compensation owed to you. Your obligation-free consultation will not cost you anything, and our attorneys will not be compensated until reaching a successful outcome in your case.