Articles Posted in Truck Accident

Any type of auto accident can cause serious injury and even death, but those involving large trucks can be particularly devastating. Due to the sheer size and weight of a large truck (in excess of 10,000 pounds), accidents are far more likely to involve multiple car collisions and result in death.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a report in 2007 that highlighted the most common causes of truck accidents. The “Large Truck Causation Study” report is the first of its kind to examine the wide scope of factors that contribute to large commercial truck accidents. Using a nationwide sample of 967 crashes, researchers concluded that certain circumstances are most prevalent in truck accidents. Below is a list of the most common trucking accident causes, and their corresponding level of risk. Continue reading

A Southbridge tow truck driver was killed on Wednesday after he was struck by a box truck while helping a disabled vehicle on the Massachusetts Turnpike. The driver, 22-year-old Kevin St. Pierre, was preparing to tow a car that had a flat tire when he was hit. He was pronounced dead at the accident scene. The driver of the box truck has not been criminally charged.

In the Telegram & Gazette, Statewide Towing Association executive director Kim Lowell in Southboro is quoted as saying that every five days in the United States a tow truck driver is killed. Nearly 90% of the deaths are fatal and almost all incidents take place on limited-access highways.

Tow truck driver deaths continue to happen despite the state’s Move Over Law, which requires that drivers slow down or move to the next free lane as they approach a maintenance or emergency vehicle that is stopped on the road. State troopers in Massachusetts have also been killed on the job after being struck while providing roadside help. Often, these workers, like pedestrians, are fully exposed and vulnerable to injury. They have nothing to protect them from the impact of a collision with a fast-moving vehicle. The outcome may prove catastrophic.

A Plymouth, Massachusetts woman now has to undergo physical therapy after she was involved in a truck accident involving a runaway trailer. Patricia Jordan was driving an SUV when the trailer, which had detached from the truck after the vehicle went into a slight curve, hit her RAV 4, causing it to slam into a concrete barrier. The 48-year-old mother experienced soreness in her neck and back after the incident.

According to investigators, the trailer was not properly locked into place. It also was overloaded, exceeding the authorized weight limit by 8,000 pounds at 88,280 pounds. The truck was transporting corrugated cardboard.

While runaway trailer accidents are a rare occurrence, they can be deadly. Often the trailer may be moving at a fast speed and carrying a heavy load. Causes of runaway trailer accidents:

Five months after comedian Tracy Morgan sustained serious injuries in a truck accident, his lawyer is now saying that it is not certain whether or not the performer will fully recover. Morgan sustained a traumatic brain injury and numerous broken bones after the vehicle he was riding in was rear-ended in a tractor-trailer crash involving a Walmart vehicle. His friend, comedy writer James McNair, died from his injuries.

Now, Morgan’s lawyers are saying that because of the severity of his TBI, they don’t know if he will recover to become the “Tracy Morgan he once was.” Morgan’s uncertain progress is indicative of how with certain brain injuries it can take a while before doctors are able to determine to what extent a patient will get better.

Morgan filed a truck accident lawsuit against Walmart seeking damages. Other plaintiffs in the semi-truck crash case include Morgan’s assistant Jeffrey Millea, Krista Millea, and comedian Ardie Fuqua. They want compensatory damges, punititve damages, statutory damages, legal costs, and pre-and post judgment interest.