Tennessee Bridge Falls: American Bridge Deaths
Memphis residents should remember that on April 1, 1989 eight people were killed when their car fell into the Hatchie River just north of Shelby County. After an exhaustive investigation, the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) found that these deaths resulted from negligence. The NTSB found that if the State of Tennessee had given attention to serious problems with the bridge that were discovered by state inspectors long before the accident, then these deaths could have been avoided.
This frightening image shows the crash of the bridge into the murky water. As a trial lawyer, I have seen such events before and it always send a chill through my body. Negligence is the breach of a duty of care which is the cause of damages. As tax payers, we all hear of the so-called frivolous lawsuit. In my experience, some cases have far more merit than others. However, prior knowledge or the duty to investigate the safety of a bridge cannot be thought of as anything but proper.
The point of this article is to focus our attention and empathy on this week's news. Some of the families of the victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse that happened August 1, 2007 have filed suits for wrongful death. In its interim NTSB pointed to an error in the design of the 40-year-old bridge: 16 gusset plates — the components that helped connect steel beams — in the center span were designed at only half the required thickness, and fractured. The following horrific scene could have been avoided if the design were proper and the inspections of the bridge had been thoroughly conducted.
Apparently the State of Minnesota did not take the necessary precautions in either its design approval, construction,inspection and, most important of all,...the protection of the future of its citizens.
