Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

An unusual article in the Alton Telegraph caught my eye as a southern Illinois trucking accident attorney. According to the Dec. 18 article, a witness to a fatal crash between a car and a tractor-trailer called the newspaper to dispute the official law enforcement account, which put the blame on the driver of the car. Joshua Headrick, 19, was killed Dec. 17 when he proceeded straight through an intersection and into a semi truck turning left into a quarry. The resulting crash caused an explosion that killed Headrick. The truck jackknifed, but its unidentified driver was not injured.

Walters is a member of the Madison County Board, executive director of the Southern Illinois Industrial Association and a former insurance claims adjuster. He said he was waiting to make a left turn when Headrick drove by in his side of the road, then hit the left-turning truck. Both men had green lights, said Walters, but he was waiting to make sure traffic was clear before turning. Walters said Headrick was driving five to ten mph above the speed limit, but that this was not unusual for the area. And two other trucks in line to turn didn’t move, Walters said, suggesting that they didn’t have a green arrow. Under those circumstances, he told the Telegraph, “It was completely the truck’s fault[.]” However, the Alton Police Department initially assigned the blame to Headrick based on other witness accounts. The police department declined to comment.

As a St. Louis big rig accident lawyer, I think this is powerful evidence that things are more complicated than they may initially have seemed to the police. I would be interested to know who the other witnesses are who implicated Headrick for the crash, and what their angles of vision might have been. The issue of who was at fault for the accident is important, because if police decide the truck driver was at fault after all, there will be important financial consequences for both parties. Not only could the truck driver face professional consequences, but Headrick’s family could have a strong claim in any lawsuit they choose to pursue. Depending on the circumstances, the truck driver, his or her trucking company and even the quarry could all be held legally and financially responsible for this terrible crash.

Continue reading "Witness to Fatal Semi Accident Disputes Official Account That Blames Car's Driver" »

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here about a potentially quite serious accident in Kansas City, involving a tanker truck that overturned and spilled hydrochloric acid all over a bridge. As a Missouri tractor-trailer accident attorney, I was surprised to see that another truck has overturned in the same spot -- the Paseo Bridge over the Missouri River. According to a Dec. 14 article from the Kansas City Star, the truck was carrying soybean meal that spilled across the highway, causing the road to be closed between 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 and 1:30 a.m. the next morning. No injuries were reported, but the driver of the truck was cited for driving too fast. Initial reports that the semi was leaking gasoline were not substantiated.

Television station KCTV followed up Dec. 15 with a report looking for reasons for the two crashes. Missouri Department of Transportation officials blamed excessive speed for both crashes. They reiterated that warning in an interview with the station, saying the bridge is easy to navigate if drivers stick to posted speed limits. However, the bridge is also currently under construction, which means drivers also have to contend with workers, equipment, detours and lane closures. Drivers interviewed for the piece said the construction was sometimes confusing; one driver added that the downhill slope at the end of the bridge didn’t seem safe. Some said they prefer to avoid the bridge altogether, which means detouring to bridges to the north and south, some far out of the way and none attached to an interstate highway.

As a St. Louis big rig accident lawyer, I suspect that both MoDOT and the drivers are right. Speeding isn’t a factor in truck accidents as often as it is in accidents involving passenger cars. But when truckers do speed, they can do far more damage, simply because their vehicles weigh up to 100 times more than the average import economy car. That weight matters not only in a collision, but also in a curve, because it makes it easier for trucks to turn over like these two did. And because there is construction on the bridge right now, drivers must slow down even more than usual. They must also be extra careful about their route and lanes, which may have changed because of the construction, and keep an eye out for people and equipment. Drivers who use the bridge regularly, and professional truck drivers, may be lulled into a false sense of a security by their experience -- but failure to take extra care under these conditions can easily cause a crash.

Continue reading "Second Semi in Three Weeks Overturns on KC Bridge, Prompting Speed Concerns" »

As a St. Louis tractor-trailer accident attorney, I noted with interest a recent article about financial penalties for the state in a fatal trucking crash. According to a Nov. 24 article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a three-person arbitration panel ruled that the Missouri Department of Transportation should have warned motorists about the traffic pileup that led to the death of 28-year-old Jemma Dant of St. Louis. Dant was stopped on Interstate 44 for traffic when she was rear-ended by a semi truck, pushing her vehicle into another stopped vehicle. Traffic was backed up from the Vandeventer exit on I-44, past the designated exit lane and into the right lane.

Dant’s family argued that MoDOT should have done more to warn drivers about the backup problem. In fact, the exit in question has been re-striped since the 2005 accident, their attorney said, and warning signs have been added. Cases against MoDOT may be heard by an out-of-court arbitration panel instead of a state court. A panel in this case ruled in mid-November that Dant’s father, sister, brother, nieces and nephews should receive $1.3 million in compensation. But because Dant’s family had already received $950,000 in a claim against the trucker and trucking company, the state may subtract that amount from the judgment, leaving a payment of only $350,000. This is just under the maximum of $378,814 that state agencies may be compelled to pay, a cap set by sovereign immunity laws.

As a Missouri semi truck accident lawyer, I am pleased that Dant’s family received fair compensation despite those laws. Sovereign immunity is a legal doctrine dating back to Britain, which says that governments are immune from lawsuits. Incredibly, this doctrine allows states to decide whether they and their employees are liable at all for wrongdoing, even clear and undisputed wrongdoing. As a rule, Missouri and Illinois citizens may sue their states for negligence, but they have special rules to follow -- such as the damages cap -- and often must overcome special obstacles like shorter deadlines and administrative petitions. Failure to follow these rules can disqualify a claim entirely, no matter how strong it might be. That’s why it’s important for people with a claim against a government agency to speak with an experienced attorney as early as possible in the process.

Continue reading "Arbitration Board Rules MoDOT Must Pay Family of Woman Who Died in Semi Crash" »

Our Missouri tractor-trailer accident lawyers noted a particularly dangerous accident that happened in Kansas City just after the Thanksgiving long weekend. The Kansas City Star reported Nov. 30 that a tanker truck crashed on Interstate 35 at 7 a.m. that day, causing a rollover and a spill of its contents -- hydrochloric acid. The newspaper said the crash spilled up to 400 gallons of acid across the highway’s Paseo Bridge construction site, causing a toxic hazard that closed the road in both directions and put a nearby business on lockdown. At least 11 people reportedly went to the hospital, although no serious injuries were reported.

According to the Star, police said the driver of the truck was probably going too fast for the stretch of highway, which is part of a construction zone. The truck hit a concrete barrier and overturned, spilling acid from its tank. Hydrochloric acid has many uses in industrial processing, but corrodes human tissue and can produce toxic gas when mixed with common substances like bleach. To control this danger, the city threw down sand and dirt to stop the spreading puddle, following up with a special truck to siphon it away. It also had to call in a special road crew to repair holes the acid had eaten into the highway. The nearly Isle of Capri casino closed down its climate-control system and went on lockdown to minimize the risk of injury to staff and customers. Nonetheless, eleven people went to hospitals complaining of eye, nose and throat irritation, including the truck’s driver, two police officers and a construction worker.

As a St. Louis tanker truck accident attorney, I’m grateful that the damage was not worse. The federal government considers hydrochloric acid a toxic substance. Direct contact with human skin causes chemical burns that can lead to permanent damage if the exposure is strong enough. Contact with the fumes is even more dangerous, leading to death, circulation problems or permanent organ damage in high concentrations; or burning eyes, nose and throat in lesser concentrations. If the spill had gone differently, or the city had not been able to respond so quickly, everyone in the area would have been at risk for these serious injuries. And because law enforcement suspects that speed was the cause of the crash, the trucker -- and probably his trucking company -- would have been held responsible for those injuries.

Continue reading "Kansas City Police Blame Speed for Trucking Accident That Spilled Acid on Highway" »