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Wheel flies off truck on beltway, kills young woman

The Washington Post recently reported about another senseless loss of life on the beltway.  

On Thursday, January 22, Channing Quinichett was driving on the beltway in Maryland, heading to a prenatal massage appointment.  She died when her car was hit by a wheel that had broken off a delivery truck that was being towed to a repair shop.  The wheel bounced wildly, hit the grill of a tractor-trailer, ricocheted off the shoulder and three travel lanes before it hit Ms. Quinichett's Honda Civic.

Several years ago, I was part of a team of lawyers that represented the family of a young woman who was killed in a similar incident on the beltway.  A cracked brake drum broke away from the truck, flew across lanes of travel and struck our client who was a passenger in a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.  The company that owned the truck had not inspected the brake drum, so the crack grew until the drum split open while the truck was traveling at highway speeds.  Proper inspection of that truck would have revealed the crack in the brake drum, the truck would have been taken out of service and repaired.  Proper inspection of the delivery truck being towed on Thursday likely could have revealed a problem with the wheel. Did  check on the condition of the truck that was being towed before it got up to highway speeds on the beltway?

My heart goes out to Ms. Quinichett's friends and family.

Labels: Accident beltway death truck