18 Wheeler Accidents
18-Wheeler Horror Story Continues
Once charged for vehicular manslaughter, you would think the trucker would get off the road. Not so.
This case truly points out the utter stupidity of some people when it comes to taking responsibility for their actions. The trucker in this horror story was already charged with felony vehicular manslaughter when he was slapped with a wrongful death, civil lawsuit, for the deaths of three people in August 2010.
The 18-wheeler driver rammed his out of control trunk into a house nestled at the bottom of a highway. Unfortunately, there were people home at the time, and the force of the impact killed two adults and an 8-year-old child. When the big rig hit, it was hauling two trailers of gravel, and a load that no one could see until later; a load of vehicle code violations, serious enough that the rig should never have been in service.
The 61-year-old trucker had a string of citations for faulty brakes, speeding, bad tire treads, spilled loads and other infractions that spanned 10 years. It was not the first time he had run into a stationary object either. An accident looking for a place to happen? Definitely. But more than that, a negligent man who took the lives of three innocent, unsuspecting people. The lawsuit is asking for punitive and compensatory damages, and names not just the trucker, but the man’s trucking company, the city where the accident happened, the county and the state.
The trucker’s defense counsel suggests the accident was the result of a poorly maintained and dangerous highway, largely due to the way it was designed and constructed and how it was repaired. In other words, the trucker was attempting to point the finger of blame at the county and state by suggesting the steep downgrade and heavy traffic caused the accident.
The trucker pled not guilty to the three charges he faces, and will have his day in court. In the meantime, he was let out on bail and now also faces a wrongful death lawsuit. Chances are that lawsuit be successful. Unfortunately, it will not bring the dead family back, but it will help the remaining family come to terms with their slaughter by truck. It will likely also provide them with financial compensation to allow them to continue with their lives.
Wrongful death lawsuits are often more about making sure a similar incident does not happen to anyone else. This family does not want to see this trucker on the road again; locked and loaded and out of control to potentially kill someone else. They may well get their wish.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Big Rig Disintegrates Upon Impact
You do not often see cases like this one. The big rig slammed into a median on the highway and the front end disintegrated.
This particular big rig crash was nothing short of completely spectacular. The semi could be seen travelling along the highway, suddenly veering into the median and plowing through it. Usually, in cases like this, the truck would jump the median or jackknife and roll over. This truck, however, completely disintegrated right on impact, with the pieces flying across the other two lanes of traffic.
As a result of this wreck, there was a 40-car pileup right behind the rig, or what remained of the rig. It was a nasty chain reaction that miraculously did not involve too many serious injuries. One woman, who climbed out of her car after she crashed, was struck and killed at the scene. Her family will likely want to file a wrongful death lawsuit with an Arkansas injury lawyer and get the case either settled fairly or taken to trial for justice.
What caused the 18-wheeler driver to lose control? This and a whole series of other questions will dog the investigation until the police are able to sort out what the trucker was doing just prior to losing the rig and it spinning out of control. There is certainly speculation that the trucker may have dozed off at the wheel, been driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, was texting, was reaching for something on the dashboard and took his eyes off the road or was speeding despite unsafe winter road conditions.
Any one of the drivers and passengers of the 40 vehicles involved in this horrendous crash may want to speak to an Arkansas injury lawyer about recovering the costs of their medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages and other items. While the injuries may have seemed to be minor on the surface, silent injuries, like whiplash or traumatic brain injury, may not show up until later.
If you have even been in an accident like this, do not wait to call an experienced Arkansas injury lawyer and discuss your case. You will find out your rights, what to expect when you go to court, what damages you may claim and find some closure in the process.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicingpersonal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
America Runs Thanks To The Trucking Industry But Fatalities Are Often The Price For Commerce
It is inevitably a fact of life that with large rigs on the roads, accidents happen. When cars and 18-wheelers tangle, the results are nasty.
Even though the nation relies on trucking to transport goods clear across the country, the accident statistics for the industry give one the chills. The U.S. Department of Transportation indicates that someone is killed in a rig wreck just about every 16 minutes.
If you do the math on that, you get roughly 90 personal injury accidents happening every day. Every day of the year, there are 90 accidents. What staggering numbers to even begin to contemplate; numbers that often are used in court when an Arkansas injury lawyer handles a trucking wreck case on behalf of a client.
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that when a behemoth weighing in at about 80,000 pounds hits a smaller vehicle, which may weigh about 3,000 pounds, the big rig completely creams the other vehicle. Often, there isn’t a whole lot of the other vehicle left to pick up at the accident scene. Unfortunately, there often aren’t a lot of people left alive either.
For those who do survive an accident like this, their lives are often changed forever due to the catastrophic nature of their injuries which may include amputations, traumatic brain injury, fractures, crush injuries, spinal cord injury and paralysis. It’s enough to make you want to stay home; enough to make you wonder why accidents like this happen in the first place.
Typically, many of the big rig wrecks are the result of a number of factors which may include poorly trained truckers, negligent driving, driving while exhausted, speeding, traveling with an improperly balanced load, poor or no maintenance, inattention, texting, driving while distracted or driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol or being overloaded. Truckers are human and many figure that nothing will happen to them while they are on the road. Many take chances based on that assumption. Unfortunately, sometimes the assumption will kill them and others.
Despite the fact that the trucking industry does have rules in place that are supposed to limit the number of hours a trucker may drive, this seems to be more honored in the breach than in actual practice. This fact has come to light in other cases handled by an experienced Arkansas injury lawyer. Truckers don’t make much money, which drives many to break industry rules to pay their bills. They will either put in more hours to make more money or end up driving faster and further to meet company expectations, whether they are realistic or not.
Given the long laundry list of things that may be going on with truckers in the nation today, can you really expect that the big rig in the lane next to you is being piloted by a sober, rested, responsible trucker that is well versed in road safety? The answer is: Probably not. In light of that, take steps to protect yourself and give them lots of room.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Big Rig Rollover Kills One Person And Injures Another
Big rigs travel the highways every day. And just about every day, one is involved in a collision that maims or kills another person on the road.
The case I wanted to talk about is one that I was made aware of while reading accident reports. While I did not handle this case, I have had cases similar to this. It just brought home the fact that there is a thin line between being safe and on the road to your next destination and being dead in the blink of an eye when a big rig rolls over. Death may visit the driver of the truck, just as easily as it can affect those around the vicinity of a semi when it crashes.
In this case, the trucker was hauling beer and was just about to merge onto a highway when he spotted a car stopped in the right lane. The driver was just sitting in the car at the time and no one knew why, aside from speculating about mechanical failure.
Unable to stop, slow down or swerve, the trucker attempted to avoid a collision, but smacked into the car, climbed an embankment and flipped over. The cab was severed from the rest of the truck and diesel fuel slopped out on the highway. The trucker was pronounced dead at the scene and the driver of the car was taken to the hospital, suffering some very serious injuries. It was several hours before the scene was cleared of debris, diesel fuel and dumped cargo.
Obviously, there would be an opportunity for the estate of the trucker to file a wrongful death lawsuit. However, the family of the car driver, or the driver himself, could also in turn file a personal injury lawsuit claiming the trucker was negligent in not watching where he was going, was perhaps speeding or maybe even driving while distracted. There are far too many possibilities to know for certain how this case may eventually turn out.
The point to be made here is that in most truck wrecks there are hundreds of details that need to be examined by a skilled Arkansas injury lawyer to determine liability, who to sue, what damages to ask of the court, which insurance companies are involved in the resulting melee and just what precisely happened to cause an accident in the first place.
Truck wrecks are not as simple and straightforward as they may seem at first blush. There are usually too many other parties with a vested interest in the outcome to think, even for a moment, that the case won’t be difficult to get to trial.
If you have been involved in a truck wreck and lived to tell the tale, speak to an experienced Arkansas injury lawyer. You should know right upfront what your legal rights are and how complex cases like this are handled.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas business dispute lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
18-wheeler multiple crash causes severe injuries
Some accidents never should have happened. A string of errors in this instance caused significant injuries to the survivors.
This multiple vehicle wreck was a dramatic sight to behold, and wound up injuring three people when four cars and an 18-wheeler collided. It created quite the mess on the highway, and left law enforcement officials trying to figure out how it happened in the first place. The names of the victims have been changed to protect their identities.
Evidently, driver number one, John Doe, had parked his sedan by the side of the road to replace a flat tire. Driver number two, Bill Smith, parked his F-150 truck behind Doe’s sedan to help him change the tire. Along came a pickup truck, driven by driver number three, Jane Thomas, who fell asleep at the wheel of her vehicle and hit the rear of Smith’s truck, which then rammed into Doe’s vehicle.
Things got more complicated from there. The impact force of the chain collision pushed one of the cars out into the oncoming lane of traffic, where it was hit by another car being driven by driver number four, a 76-year old man. The same car that was shoved out into highway traffic was then hit once again by an 18-wheeler.
When EMT crews arrived on scene, they took Doe and Smith to hospital for medical care. The other victims had varying degrees of injuries, but amazingly enough, they all survived. The chain of liability in this case would be terribly confusing, but suffice to say, driver number three, Jane Thomas, would likely be the “at fault” negligent driver for falling asleep at the wheel.
Where it may go from there would depend on the evidence at the scene, but there may also be questions about the elderly driver not paying attention to where he was going and driver number five, the trucker, speeding and driving inattentively.
While this particular case may be a tad unusual, accidents tend to happen every day. Knowing what to do if you have been in one is the key. If you have been involved in a crash where you are certain the other driver was negligent, and you have sustained injuries, call an Arkansas accident lawyer. You will want to find out what your legal rights are, how negligence is defined, how it applies in your case and how to file a lawsuit to recover compensation.
While some accident victims do attempt to settle crash claims on their own, they generally find they have problems with the insurance company. If you involve an Arkansas accident lawyer in the claim from the start, the insurance company is usually more cooperative about paying reasonable damages and won’t spend time trying to diminish or dismiss your injuries.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Big Rig Texting Deadly
If a semi driver is texting while driving, get out of his way. This is an accident looking for a place to happen.
Many people don’t realize that over 100,000 people end up being seriously hurt every year thanks to being in an accident with a big rig. It’s a no-brainer to think about the total destruction that results when something that size hits something a great deal smaller.
Often the other vehicle’s occupants die in the carnage.
“While size alone may make them the “Kings” of the highway, this doesn’t mean they are exempt from following the rules of the road, just like the rest of us. In fact, you’d think it would make them ‘more’ aware of what they were doing ‘because’ of their size and deadly potential,” noted Michael G. Smith, an Arkansas injury and Arkansas accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas.
“Here is an interesting fact for you. Commercial trucks account for approximately 3% of all motor vehicle registrations. Doesn’t sound like much does it? Unfortunately though, they are responsible for roughly 12% of all yearly traffic fatalities,” observed Smith. The government does seem to be working toward making highway travel safer by putting stricter rules and regulations into effect that target truckers; specifically to get them to take precautions to avoid fatigue and distracted driving.
The statistics for big rigs crashes show that distracted driving tops the list of fatal driving errors. That list includes three kinds of distracted driving: taking their eyes off the road, taking their hands off the wheel, and disengaging their minds. This likely won’t surprise you in this day and age of texting, but truck drivers causing accidents while texting is negligent and deadly, and the very worst combination of the top three distractions,” Smith outlined.
“Maybe you haven’t heard about the case where a trucker killed a mom and her young child because he was watching a porn movie on his laptop while driving. Of course this is the high end of recklessness, not to mention stupidity, but it points out that some really strange things can and do happen,” added Smith.
Some other research just done recently by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revealed that truckers who text do so while taking their eyes off the road for 5 out of every 6 seconds. “If they are traveling at 55 mph, the trucker actually travels the full length of a football field without looking at the road. Pretty scary stuff, isn’t it?” asked Smith. On top of that frightening revelation, big rig truckers are up to 20 times more likely to get into an accident while texting on their cell.
The good news here is the DOT has now banned texting for truckers. If they follow the rules, this should help reduce accidents as a result of texting. If they don’t follow the rules, and let’s face it, some people won’t, there will still be death by texting while driving a big rig. “Yes, there is a fine if they’re caught texting. Lawyers can now also go for punitive damages to make a point that texting while driving is deadly,” said Michael G. Smith, an Arkansas injury and Arkansas accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas.
Learn more by visiting http://www.Arkansaslawhelp.com
Big Rig Blows Stop Sign
This three vehicle pileup, the result of a big rig running a stop sign, killed one.
Traffic signs are put in place for obvious reasons. Those who fail to pay attention to those signs are running a very real risk of serious injury or death, as this case that we heard about demonstrates. A big rig driver blew a stop sign and because he did, he was involved in a crash with another semi and a minivan. The driver of the minivan was killed.
This accident happened when the driver of a tractor-trailer unit didn’t obey a stop sign at a road connecting with a highway. Just as he was sweeping onto the highway, he broadsided another 18-wheeler. The impact was so forceful that one rig was shoved into the northbound lane where it hit a minivan.
The driver of the van was virtually crushed into his vehicle like a sardine in a tin and the Jaws of Life had to be used to extricate him. Unfortunately, his injuries were so severe he died at the scene of the accident. As an Arkansas accident lawyer, we see cases like this quite often. They are never easy for the family and the shock of losing someone they loved is monumental.
Evidently, the drivers of the two big rigs were not badly hurt and managed to walk away from the scene with minor injuries. While the police report indicated that they didn’t believe drugs or alcohol were factors in this accident, there would be a full investigation to determine why the first trucker went through a stop sign.
On the face of this case, the trucker who went through a stop sign will likely be cited for failure to obey traffic signs and possibly speeding and driving while distracted. While there was no mention of a cell phone or laptop in the police report, it doesn’t mean the trucker wasn’t on his cell phone either talking or texting when he ignored the stop sign.
He may also have been hunting for a map, watching a movie on his laptop or picking something up off the floor. There may also be the possibility he was under the influence of prescription drugs or had been driving too long and was exhausted. If any of these scenarios is the case, the family of the minivan driver will have a good case to file for a wrongful death lawsuit with an Arkansas accident lawyer.
In cases like this, it is best to discuss all options with a skilled personal injury lawyer with extensive experience handling 18-wheeler accidents. There are usually a number of things that need to be done right away, not the least of which is to preserve evidence, gather reports, pictures and medical records. Time is truly the enemy in crashes involving 18-wheelers, so don’t wait to speak to an Arkansas accident lawyer to find out what your rights are and what to expect if you have a viable case.
Michael G. Smith is anArkansas personal injury lawyer and Arkansas accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law and veteran’s benefits in Arkansas. Learn more by visiting Arkansaslawhelp.com
Double Trouble on the Freeway Causes Big Rig Trucker’s Death
Anytime there is a big rig involved in a collision, the results are horrendous. This case is a story of inattention that cost a trucker his life.
This is a story of two big rigs that collided and burned. It was a ghastly scene, brought on by one of the trucks rear-ending the other. The accident totally shut down the freeway for six hours to clear debris, as one of the trucks flipped, causing both to catch on fire.
“The impact was so forceful that the trucker that hit the first 18-wheeler was killed instantly on impact. The fire that broke out on impact was an intense inferno, fueled by cleaning supplies, causing significant problems for the firefighters that responded to this emergency call,” outlined Michael G. Smith, an Arkansas injury lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Little Rock Arkansas.
The accident reports don’t clearly indicate just what caused this accident in the first place. Eyewitnesses suggest the second truck, the one that rear-ended the first, was traveling at a high rate of speed. “It is also not known if the deceased trucker was doing something else at the time of the impact, such as texting on a cell phone, reaching for a map, drinking something that spilled and distracted him, talking on a cell phone, playing a game on his cell phone or perhaps using his laptop,” added Smith.
Until the accident investigators get a chance to clear the whole scene and find the second driver’s cell phone, they won’t know for sure if that played a part in this fatality. “Other things that may have caused this incident could involve something going wrong with the 18-wheeler itself, such as a blown tire, a sudden shift in load, a dirty windshield or faulty brakes,” Smith listed. Road or weather conditions may have also been factors in this double big rig collision. Only time will tell.
Trucking accidents stalk the nation on a daily basis, and each year over 500,000 of them cause catastrophic injuries and deaths. Statistics show that out of the 500,000 accidents, at least 5,000 or more are deadly, which means one in every eight traffic accidents with a big rig ends in death.
There is a whole list of things that can and do cause 18-wheeler accidents which includes, debris on the road, driver exhaustion, speeding, not following the rules of the road, driving under the influence and reckless driving. “The sheer size and weight of these giants guarantees that the end result of any collision is extremely serious or fatal. And you have to remember, 18-wheelers don’t stop on a dime,” commented Michael G. Smith, an Arkansas injury lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Little Rock Arkansas.
Learn more by visiting http://www.Arkansaslawhelp.com
Big Rig Crashes Cause Big Problems
While big rig crashes are a reality we care not to think about too much, there are things car drivers may do to avoid potentially fatal crashes. In all instances where you have been in such a crash, contact a highly experienced Little Rock personal injury lawyer for advice and assistance.
Collisions with semi tractor trailer units never have a very happy ending. Whether the people involved are seriously injured or they do not survive the crash, this is one area of the law where you need to talk to an experienced Little Rock personal injury lawyer about your rights.
Statistically speaking, it seems to be a bit of a toss-up when it comes to the reasons for devastating crashes involving 18-wheelers and other vehicles. Some schools of thought think it’s largely the truck driver’s fault. Others think it is the driver of the car that causes the collision. Frankly, when push comes to shove, the reasons for the accident really only matter when it comes to putting together a court case. If there was negligence on the part of the trucker or the “other” driver, then you may be able to recover damages for your injuries.
=What on earth are car drivers doing that results in such horrific outcomes when they “meet and greet” a tractor trailer on the wrong side of the road, or are rear-ended? Typically when accidents of this nature take place, it’s the car driver who has lost sight of the fact that 18-wheelers don’t have the same ability to whip in and out of small spaces, or to quickly avoid another car in their way or even come to a quick stop.
Quick and stop when you’re talking about a big rig do not belong in the same sentence. For example, a car is able to come to a rather rapid stop if they’re traveling 55 mph and will accomplish that halt in about 265 feet. A huge truck with a load on will take at least 313 feet to stop, and not all that gracefully either. Herein lies a very crucial safety rule and that is to keep your car a safe distance behind or in front of the truck. If you don’t do that and have to stop suddenly, you will find the semi up the back of your car. This is a two-way street. You don’t want to be following a big rig too closely either in case they have to stop abruptly.
Passing and cutting back in front of the truck is another area that a lot of motorists really don’t “get.” When they cut in too closely, they don’t leave enough distance between the car and the truck. When something like that happens the trucker reacts by slamming on the brakes. This doesn’t only have the potential to affect you, who cut in front of him leaving him no room to move, but also other cars beside and behind the truck. In other words, “think” before you act when you are traveling with big rigs.
Motorists also need to realize that truckers do have blind spots. This shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise, since cars have blind spots as well. The point here is that you do not want to be traveling in those blind spots or the trucker can’t see you. Stay away from the back of a semi, the right front and left rear. Keep in mind that when you pull out to pass, you can “not” be seen in those blind spots in either the rearview mirror or the side mirrors, and you run the risk of the truck pulling left or right into your lane. The end result is a nasty crash.
If you have been involved in a tractor trailer crash or have lost a loved one as a result of an accident with a semi, speak to a seasoned Little Rock personal injury lawyer. Find out what your rights are, what damages you may be able to claim, and how a case would proceed to court. Time is of the essence in cases like this, so don’t wait too long to speak to that attorney or the evidence in the case will be lost, or the statute of limitations may run out.
Michael G. Smith is a Little Rock injury lawyer and Little Rock accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Little Rock Arkansas. To learn more about Little Rock injury lawyer, Little Rock accident lawyer, Little Rock person injury lawyer, Little Rock malpractice lawyer, Little Rock injury attorney, Little Rock wrongful death attorney, visit Arkansaslawhelp.com.
Watch Out for the Big Rigs
18-wheelers do not have the ability to stop quickly and the consequences are often death for those in other vehicles.
It’s a given that if a big rig crashes into another vehicle, the smaller of the two vehicles involved in the accident will bear the brunt of the damages. Big rigs weigh in at 40 tons or 80,000 pounds. The average car only weighs about 5,000 pounds. This is a bit like David versus Goliath.
When a vehicle that size is hurtling down the highway, it takes 40% longer for it to get stopped than it does an average vehicle. This has a lot to do with what type of load they have at the time. If it happens to be steel, add in an even longer period of time to stop.
Trucks only have ten brakes, not 18 despite what people think. However, no matter how many brakes a semi has, it still can’t stop suddenly. This is the reason that crashes are so devastating and the rationale behind many states investigating implementing driving campaigns targeted at regular car drivers who drive like maniacs around big rigs.
In Georgia, there are roughly 6,700 truck collisions yearly, resulting in close to 5,364 injuries and 235 deaths. Survivors of these catastrophic accidents often have brain damage, spinal and neck injuries, amputations, multiple fractures, and neurological disorders. These victims generally need extensive and expensive medical treatment. It is essential to hire an experienced Georgia trucking attorney to ensure personal injury damages are properly awarded.
Interestingly enough, not many people realize that nearly 60% of the time the trucker is not at fault in an accident. On the contrary, it is mainly other drivers that don’t respect the rules of the road or the space of the rigs while they’re on the same highway. A new program launched in Nevada has state Troopers hitch rides with truck drivers to see what really goes on when they’re trucking.
If a program like this was implemented in every state, it might just reduce the number of deaths as a result of a collision with an 18-wheeler. If it taught motorists hard facts about driving near a big rig, it would smarten some of them up. For instance, trucks have no-zones. This means if a person can’t see their mirrors, the trucker can’t see the other vehicle. It’s just that simple.
Seen from the other side of the wheel – inside the big truck – it puts a different spin on the real problems on the highways these days. Many of the truckers cite cars following too closely, cutting them off or being in their blind spot. No matter what the cause of an accident with a semi, the results are devastating. Hiring a skilled attorney is the best way to seek justice and an award (even a proportional one) that will deal with the lifelong injuries the victim will struggle to handle.
To learn more about Little Rock injury lawyer, Little Rock accident lawyer, Little Rock person injury lawyer,Little Rock malpractice lawyer, Little Rock injury attorney, Little Rock wrongful death attorney, visitArkansaslawhelp.com.
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