KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One person was pronounced dead after a fatal crash on I-40 West near West Hills Thursday afternoon, according to the Knoxville Police Department.
KPD started the investigation after responding to the scene at around 1:15 p.m.
Authorities said a Nissan SUV that was traveling eastbound on I-40 lost a tire. The tire then crossed over the divider wall and struck another Nissan SUV that was driving west on I-40.
The tire went through the windshield and struck the driver. The driver, an adult man, was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, KPD said. He was identified as Terry Hohm, 64, from Snellville, Georgia.
There were no other people in that vehicle. No injuries were reported in the car that lost the tire.
Marcos Garza, a Knoxville attorney from the Garza Law Firm, said determining if a driver is at fault if their tire falls off depends on a lot of things.
"The questions that I would want to know in order to determine whether that person is at fault or are how old is the vehicle," said Garza. "More importantly, when's the last time it was serviced? Did the person driving the vehicle or who owned the vehicle, either one, have reason to know that there was an issue with that tire or that wheel?"
He says if the driver knew there was a problem, or if they weren't doing routine car maintenance, they could legally be held responsible. But he added that sometimes there is no way of knowing something will happen. And in that case, they wouldn't be on the hook, legally.
"Sometimes if someone regularly rotates their car tires, keeps their car serviced and in good working conditions, an accident like this just happens," said Garza. "Sometimes that person's not at fault, because it's not foreseeable or not predictable, that it would happen."
He says if he were over a case like this, he would also want to know who serviced the car most recently.
"Sometimes, there can either be a repair defect or repair problem, because the person who did the repair or worked on the car last didn't do a good job. Those are often very hard to prove. But sometimes, the alternative is someone could also be at fault, based on some mechanical defect or design defect, what is called a 'Products Liability Case.' Because of the way that the wheel was built, or the way that wheel is attached, from a design standpoint, it was flawed," he said.
He says he doesn't think it's likely that the driver would be charged with a crime unless it can be proven that the person knew their tire would come off.
"In theory, you could have a criminal charge that maybe some sort of reckless homicide, or reckless endangerment where you knew this really intense danger and completely disregarded it, knowing that it could cause risk to human life — serious risk to human life," said Garza.
He says with tires, it's harder to prove unless it was a spare, but if it was something that was clearly hanging off, that changes things.
"If it's like a flap on a bumper or the side of a car or something that is obviously not fully attached, or it's kind of flapping in the wind, and it came off and caused an accident, then that, probably that person is more likely to be found at fault because it's obvious it's apparent," said Garza. "Everyone can see that there's an issue with a car that ought to be addressed or fixed."