Bloomington Personal Injury Lawyer - Tractor-Trailer Accidents

Report Finds Thousands of Unsafe Trucks on America's Highways

Fred Schultz — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:18:43 GMT

The American Association for Justice, or AAJ, recently released a report on trucking safety violations entitled “Warning! Safety Violation Ahead: Motor Carrier Companies Keep Unsafe Trucks on U.S. Roads.” AAJ analyzed a million lines of data on the safety performance of U.S. trucking companies which they obtained from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The incredible results of this study found that over 28,000 trucking companies with safety violations, representing over 200,000 trucks, are currently operating in the U.S.

In an original analysis of data not previously available to the public, the American Associationfor Justice found commuters are sharing roads with trucks that have incurred thousands of safety violations, such as defective brakes, bald tires, loads that dangerously exceeded weight limits, and drivers with little or no training or drug and alcohol dependence.

These findings clearly demonstrate a need for more aggressive enforcement of safety regulations that govern the trucking industry. Trucks make up only 4% of the vehicles on the road, but account for 12% of the fatalities. Specifically, nearly 5,000 people die every year and another 80,000 are seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents involving semi tractor-trailers. According to the report, 147 people died in Indiana in 2007 as a result of being involved in a motor vehicle accident with a truck.

The report found certain violations that seemed to be common among the industry. The driving force behind the violations was to take short cuts on regulations designed to promote safety, but which ate into profit margins. Often, drivers would overload their trucks and not do proper routine maintenance in order to make more money and reduce their operating costs.

These violations include such practices as overloading trucks, allowing unqualified or untrained drivers on the road, failing to maintain tires and brakes, and compensations systems that encourage truck drivers to exceed speed limits and maximum driving hours.

The unfortunate result is that all of us are forced to use the same roads as these trucks. Hopefully, this report will spark more enforcement these regulations and punish those companies that refuse to act responsible manner.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz

"The roads are bad out there"

Fred Schultz — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:29:02 GMT

My wife is from the South, and always makes a big deal about snow on the roads. I must confess that I always quietly laugh at her idea of what makes for, "bad roads." As many of us do in the Midwest, we all think we know how to drive on snowy roads. Sometimes, we even get frusterated if we're behind someone that is creeping along on what we believe to be a fairly clear road in the winter.

However, the story I saw in the Herald Times on Thursday gave me great pause. Apparently, 34 vehicles were involved in a terrible wreck on I-69, including several semi tractor-trailers, and at least two people were killed.

The two people killed were in a truck involved in a 34-vehicle pileup about eight miles north of I-465, state police Sgt. Anthony Emery said. One person was hospitalized in critical condition and several others suffered less-severe injuries in that chain-reaction crash, which involved five semitrailers and a fire truck.

The article goes on to report that there were two other massive pileups along the same stretch of I-69. All told, over 70 vehicles were involved in the three separate incidents. The storm that caused these terrible pileups came on fairly suddenly during the day when a lot of people were traveling to or from work.

Indiana law does provide that a driver should reduce his or her speed in order to travel in a reasonably safe manner given the weather conditions that exist at the time. If someone fails to do so and an accident occurrs, then they can be found to be negligent and responsible for the accident. The Indiana State Police are, no doubt, conducting investigations into these collisions and will be interviewing numerous witnesses to see what triggered each of these pileups.

Before getting out on the roads, its very important to make sure that your vehicle maintenance is up to date. Check the tread on your tires and have someone look atyour brakes. Also, lets all remember to be careful and heed a word of caution from those whom we might otherwise dismiss. "The roads are bad out there."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz

A Tragic Tractor-Trailer Accident

Fred Schultz — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:34:43 GMT

I just read online about a horrific tractor-trailer accident that happened in December of 2006 where two children were killed. Apparently, the story recently made the news because counsel for the injured party filed their lawsuit just prior to the statute of limitatons passing. It's not uncommon for a lawsuit to be required in serious cases like this, and most states (including Indiana) generally allow for a party to file the lawsuit within two years of the date of the accident.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the children's mother was involved in an accident on icy roads just prior to their vehicle being slammed into by the semi driver.

Authorities say Sanders' vehicle lost control on the icy highway and collided with a van. Both vehicles came to rest in the road before being struck by the semitrailer driven by the Wisconsin driver.

The lawsuit alleges that Creager was driving too fast for conditions and failed to take action to avoid the crash.

Ultimately,this story is unbelievably tragic. As a parent, I simply cannot imagine anything worse. The unfortunate reality is, though, that there are 3.3 million semi-tractor trailers that operate on our nation's higways, and when one of them is involved in an accident, there are rarely only minor injuries to the people involved.

Lawsuits involving tractor-trailers can be especially complex. First, because of the enormous size of the semi tractor-trailer compared with the plaintiff's vehicle, the plaintiff is usually bringing either a wrongful death claim or is bringing claim for severe, permanent injuries. Also, these claims often require expert medical testimony regarding the nature and extent of the injuries suffered by the plaintiff, whether the injuries are temporary or permanent, whether future medical expenses will be incurred, and whether the injuries are related to the collision with the semi.

Second, these cases can be especially interesting in light of the various federal motor vehicle safety requirements that trucking companies are required to follow. Often times, the trucking company has written safety policies and procedures that their drivers are required to follow depending on the situation, such as when they encounter icy conditions or when they come upon vehicles that have been involved in accidents. Obtaining this information and taking sworn deposition testimony from both the driver and the company's safety director can yield a wealth of information to strengthen the injured party's case against the company.

In the end, lets all use this tragic case as a reminder to ourselves to be extra careful. While we cannot stop other people from making mistakes, we can do everything in our power to make our vehicle safe. I've said it before, but make sure your tires have sufficient tread and are properly inflated. In bad weather, drive slowly or avoid traveling at all if the weather is too bad. I'm not saying any of these things would have changed the outcome in this story. I just want to remind everyone that terrible things can and do happen, and we all need to take whatever precautions we can.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz

Truck Driver involved in Fatal Crash did not have CDL

Fred Schultz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:49:32 GMT

A tragic accident happened on S.R. 37 south of Bloomington Tuesday evening. An older woman was killed and her grandaughter was seriously injured when a semi-truck heading south-bound on S.R. 37 could not stop in time when the traffic control signal turned from green to yellow at the intersection of S.R. 37 and S.R. 54/58 near Avoca. The accident investigation is being overseen by Lawrence County Sheriff Sam Craig.

The semi driver, Robert Shields, 20, Salem, was not injured, Craig said. Police issued Shields a ticket for driving the truck without a commercial endorsement on his license.

According to the news reports, the driver of the truck admitted to traveling 59 mph in a 55 mph zone when the light changed.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, oversees the trucking industry and promulgates rules and regulations to try and make our highways safer. One of the things the FMCSA does is to promote minimum federal standards for all the State Licensing of Commercial Drivers Licenses, or CDLs. According to the FMCSA's website:

"Drivers have been required to have a CDL in order to drive a CMV since April 1, 1992."

Everyone knows that the odds of being seriously injured or killed go way up when a person is involved in an accident with a semi tractor-trailer. The purpose of these federal requirements for CDL licensing is to try to make sure that there are uniform minimum safety requirements across the country that truck drivers (and the companies they work for) have to meet before getting behind the wheel of a large truck. Obviously, the better trained and qualified a truck driver is, the less likely he or she is going to be to cause an accident. Unfortunately, in this instance, the rules weren't followed and it appears that an unqualified driver was behind the wheel of the semi that was involved in this fatal crash.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Fred Schultz