On February 13, 2011 Aaron Peru, Melanie Nichols, and her son Justin were involved in a horrific car accident when a trailer broke loose of its hitch and hit their vehicle head on. Tragically, Aaron’s wounds were fatal and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Melanie and Justin were helivaced to a medical center where Melanie suffers from severe head trauma, a broken leg, and numerous other fractures throughout her body, and Justin suffered major and minor lacerations but remains in stable condition. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.
As an experienced Pennsylvania defective trailer accident lawyer since 1979, this tragic accident highlights a situation that our detached and defective trailer lawyers have been aggressively fighting for decades. Mainly, the fact that detached trailer accidents happen with much too much frequency due to limited minimal controls and regulations. NHTSA has admitted that no standards exist for trailer hitches. Unfortunately in most states, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there is very little regulation addressed to trailers under 3,000 lbs. Many of these trailers are purposefully made to be under the gross weight of 3,000 lbs. so as not to be subject to regulations. Many state laws, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, are silent as to any design or construction specifications of these vehicles or trailers, as well as towing chains or hitches. In the many cases that we have investigated, we have found that the tow trailers have obvious safety violations relating to lighting, braking, security, and inspection requirements.
Several factors cause a trailer detachment:
1.They do not need to be inspected.
2.You can build one on your own and use it or sell it.
3.If they are under 3,000 lbs., they fall below federal guidelines and if trailers are
over 3,000 lbs. reflectors only need be placed at the extreme rear of the trailer.
Many times our trailer detachment law firm has investigated claims were rental companies rented trailers to individuals with little or no knowledge of how to pull a trailer, as well as pulling them when vehicles are not strong enough to pull their loads. In other situations, rental companies fail to properly hook up the trailer to a tow vehicle or instruct the renter in how to do so properly causing the unsecured trailer to come loose during towing and separately and striking innocent pedestrians and passersby. Such failures have lead to catastrophic accident such as this resulting in the deaths and catastrophic injuries to innocent victims.
For more information about defective trailers and their promenience on the roadways of America, please go to www.dangeroustrailers.org operated by consumer safety advocate Ron Melancon, a tireless advocate against the unsafe and unregulated use of defective and dangerous trailers.
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