Lorry tyre blowout blew lorry wheel arch onto motorway, hitting my car

Crabman

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

The fact that pieces of the mudguard ended up in the road are secondary to the blow out and again, there is no negligence if a bit of plastic can't stay in one piece and attached to the vehicle when a tyre at 120psi explodes.

Is it an accepted fact that tyres will blowout and that these incidences can't be prevented?

OnanTheBarbarian

Crabman wrote: »

Is it an accepted fact that tyres will blowout and that these incidences can't be prevented?

Yes they can be prevented, by not inflating the tyre or ever moving the vehicle, otherwise there is a risk that a tyre can suffer a blow out, the causes could be very widespread and often unpreventable from the point of the operator of the vehicle.

MysteryMe

I was on a bus in town recently while the car was in for service. We were going along at about 15 mph approaching a turn and a rear tyre blew. After recovering from the shock of the loud bang we all had to get off. You could see a chunk of metal had blow out around the wheel arch so even going along at that slow speed can cause a lot of damage.

ChumpusRex

Crabman wrote: »

Is it an accepted fact that tyres will blowout and that these incidences can't be prevented?

Yes. It is accepted that tyres can blow out at any time and without provocation.

However, it is accepted that a tyre that is poorly maintained or incorrectly used is more likely to blow out than one that has been correctly installed, correctly inflated, appropriately inspected and not subject to abuse such as overloading.

You could make a successful claim against injury or property damage from a tyre blow out, if you could prove that the tyre was not correctly built, or that it was incorrectly installed, or incorrectly inflated, or that it had been driven on while damaged, or that the vehicle had been driven faster than they tyre's maximum speed, or loaded heavier than the tyre's maximum load.

forgotmyname

ChumpusRex wrote: »

Yes. It is accepted that tyres can blow out at any time and without provocation.

However, it is accepted that a tyre that is poorly maintained or incorrectly used is more likely to blow out than one that has been correctly installed, correctly inflated, appropriately inspected and not subject to abuse such as overloading.

You could make a successful claim against injury or property damage from a tyre blow out, if you could prove that the tyre was not correctly built, or that it was incorrectly installed, or incorrectly inflated, or that it had been driven on while damaged, or that the vehicle had been driven faster than they tyre's maximum speed, or loaded heavier than the tyre's maximum load.

Which the OP would not be able to prove with very expensive tests on the tyre remains. Which is probably spread over the motorway.

Then there is the issue that did the arch/liner really hit the OPs car?

To me it seems like they drove over it. Could they have not avoided it?

The OP was unlucky. Claim from your insurer and move on. If they manage to chase the lorry insurance and win your in luck. Dont waste your own time on it though.