Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

The Alton Telegraph reported recently that a semi truck rear-ended a school bus full of special needs children from the Alton School District recently in East Alton, Ill. The children were taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure. I am glad that no one appears to have been seriously hurt in this accident. As a southern Illinois tractor trailer crash lawyer, I know how easily the outcome could have been much worse. This accident underscores how important it is for tractor-trailer drivers to carefully watch traffic ahead of them, as they are legally and ethically required to do.

The truck driver, Russell Farmer, 58, of Jerseyville, rear-ended the First Student bus just before 9 a.m. The bus had stopped at the railroad crossing near the intersection of Illinois Route 3 and St. Louis Avenue, as it was legally required to do. Luckily, none of the six students on board were injured, but a teacher's aide complained of back pain after the crash. She and the students were taken to Alton Memorial Hospital for evaluation, after being transferred to another bus with a paramedic on board. The back window of their original bus was cracked by the big rig's impact, and bus company officials felt that students should be moved to a new bus to prevent their breathing any exhaust fumes. Farmer was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.

As a St. Louis semi truck accident attorney, I would like to point out how lucky everyone involved in this crash was. Over the last year, I've written about other big rig rear-endings that have resulted in serious injuries and deaths, caused by the tractor-trailer's enormous weight and force. Loaded semi trucks are heavier than a school bus carrying six children, and semi trucks can weigh up to 22 times more than a typical car. That's why 98% of fatalities in car-truck collisions are the deaths of people in the cars. That's also why there are federal and state laws regulating trucks and truck drivers. Tractor-trailers have tremendous potential to harm others on the roads, and their drivers need to follow the rules carefully to make sure that others stay safe. Failing to pay attention to traffic conditions, and thus failing to stop in time to avoid hitting stopped vehicles, is very likely to be interpreted in court as negligent driving.

Innocent people harmed by a truck driver's negligence can require the truck driver, and possibly the truck driver's employer, to pay for the harm that the negligence caused. For example, the teacher's aide who was suffering back pain immediately after the crash could suffer long-term chronic pain, even with medical treatment. Truckers' insurance companies know that crash-related injuries can do this, even getting worse as time goes on, so some try to get victims to sign away their rights to sue, in exchange for far less compensation than they may be entitled to. That practice could leave a victim with chronic pain on the hook for expensive medical treatments for years after she receives a pittance from the insurance company. If the victim doesn’t have good health insurance, he or she could end up suffering, without the financial resources to get the treatment necessary to lead a full and pain-free life.

Continue reading "School Bus With Special Needs Kids Rear-Ended by Semi Truck in Southern Illinois" »

Last week, I wrote about the death of a young man killed by a wheel that came flying off a semi truck on Interstate 70 in St. Louis. Now that an investigation into the accident has been completed, the Missouri Highway Patrol say that equipment failure caused the accident and no charges will be filed against the truck driver. This finding is of interest to me as a St. Louis tractor trailer accident attorney because it shows how important it is to maintain semi trucks well in order to keep all drivers on the roads safe.

The Missouri Highway Patrol reports that the equipment failure leading to the accident was caused by a mechanic's failure to tighten the bolts of the semi truck's wheels properly when working on them earlier. The accident that took the life of Brandon Haskin, 24, of St. Peter's, occurred when lug nuts on the rear axle of a semi truck came loose and allowed two wheels to fly off. One of those tires crashed through Haskin's windshield as he was driving on the other side of the interstate in morning rush hour traffic. He died at the scene. Another driver, Jamie Duboise, 26, of O'Fallon, suffered moderate injuries when Haskin's SUV struck her sedan. The tractor-trailer driver, Wayne Knickmeyer, 48, of Wentzville, was not hurt. Knickmeyer will not face charges related to this accident. The article didn’t note whether the mechanic who failed to tighten the bolts, or Knickmeyer’s trucking company, could face criminal charges.

The Missouri Highway Patrol's finding that equipment failure caused this accident raises many questions about how the equipment failure happened. Many different parties bear legal responsibility to make sure that semi trucks are safe on the roads. Recognizing the disproportionately large damage that tractor-trailers can do to other, smaller vehicles, federal regulations require truck drivers to inspect their vehicles to ensure that they are properly maintained before getting on the road. Failure to notice a serious safety defect could make the trucker liable for any accident it causes. Trucking companies may also be liable, because they must see that their mechanics, drivers and other employees are properly trained and perform their work adequately. And manufacturers of truck parts -- like bolts, lug nuts, wheels, and tires -- can also bear responsibility. If the bolts that came loose were defective, for example, the company that manufactured them could be liable for damage caused when they failed.

Knowing this, as a Missouri semi truck crash attorney, I doubt that the Missouri Highway Patrol's decision not to bring charges against Knickmeyer will be the end of this case. The victims and their families will be picking up the pieces of their lives for a long time to come. They most likely have already incurred expenses for funeral costs, medical treatments and lost wages, and there will probably be more costs to come, including auto repair or replacement. The victims could sue those responsible for these costs as well as lost quality of life and pain and suffering. Financial compensation cannot turn back the clock and restore their lives to the way they were before the accident, but it can at least make it easier for the victims to move forward.

Continue reading "Equipment Failure Cited in Missouri Semi Truck Accident Caused by Falling Wheel" »

Last week, I discussed a lawsuit filed because of an accident caused by a wheel that detached from a semi truck and crashed into the semi truck directly behind it. The driver whose truck was hit by the wheel is suing, claiming that he suffered permanent, severe injuries. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that another accident like this has occurred, with an even worse outcome. A 24-year-old man was killed when a semi truck tire smashed through his windshield on Interstate 70 near McKelvey Road in St. Louis, during morning rush hour. The Missouri Highway Patrol said that two wheels came off a semi truck when the lug nuts on its rear axle came loose. As a St. Louis eighteen wheeler crash attorney, I am always saddened to hear of preventable accidents like this, and I offer my condolences to those who were hurt.

The accident occurred when Brandon Haskin, 24, of St. Peters, was driving his 2003 Dodge Durango east on I-70 at about 8:30 a.m. on May 3. Wayne Knickmeyer, 48, of Wentzville, was going west on I-70 in a 2008 Volvo tractor-trailer. Two wheels came off of the Volvo, and one of them bounced over the median wall and crashed through the windshield of Haskin's SUV. The Durango then hit Jamie Duboise's 1994 Nissan Altima. Duboise, 26, of O'Fallon, suffered moderate injuries. Knickmeyer was not hurt. Haskin, described by his grandmother as a young entrepreneur who loved fishing and his dog, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, Knickmeyer said that his truck had recently been serviced. Investigators planned to inspect the truck, but did not plan to bring charges against Knickmeyer.

As a Missouri semi truck accident attorney, it seems to me that there are a lot of unanswered questions about this unfortunate situation. First, how recently was the semi truck inspected? Truck drivers are legally required to inspect their rigs every single day before they drive, to ensure that they won't pose a threat to other drivers on the road. If they don't complete a thorough inspection each time they get ready to drive, and someone gets hurt as a result of their carelessness, they can be held legally and financially responsible. This inspection procedure may be more than is required of drivers of cars, but that's because truckers drive many, many more miles than the average car driver does each day. Large trucks that malfunction are also much more dangerous than rickety cars, because they are so much heavier and more forceful. According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, part of the federal Department of Transportation, about 80% of those killed in two-vehicle accidents involving large trucks are people inside a smaller vehicle. There's just no real defense for a car or motorcycle occupant in the face of an 80,000-pound truck -- or even just one of its wheels.

Continue reading "Wheel Falling From Big Rig on Highway Kills St. Louis Man in Morning Traffic" »

A recent story about a semi truck accident lawsuit seeking more than $600,000 caught my eye, as a southern Illinois tractor-trailer crash lawyer, in part because it is a claim filed by one trucker against another trucker and his trucking company. The lawsuit was filed as the result of a tractor trailer accident in which a wheel came off of a semi truck and collided with another semi driving behind it. The driver of the second truck, Regis J. Jennings, alleges that the first truck's driver, Lawrence C. Haas, was inexperienced and poorly trained. Jennings and his wife, Sharon Bricker, seek compensation from Haas and Haas's employer, C. Grantham Co., for Jennings's allegedly severe and permanent injuries.

According to the Madison-St. Clair Record, Jennings and Bricker claim that on April 28, 2008, Haas was driving an 18-wheeler north on Illinois Route 127 in Bond County for C. Grantham Co. Jennings was behind Haas in his own semi truck. A wheel on Haas's truck came off and "came into violent contact with the front and underside of the semi-truck driven by the Plaintiff," Jennings and Bricker claim. They maintain that Haas and C. Grantham Co. failed to train Haas, or to properly inspect Haas's truck. They also allege that Haas was driving too fast, given the wheels' condition. Jennings seeks compensation for his medical costs and lost wages, pain and suffering, and loss of his ability to attend to his daily tasks and to conduct his professional life in the way he had been able to prior to being injured. Bricker seeks compensation for Jennings's medical costs; damage to her and her husband's quality of life together; and loss of the benefits of their marital relationship.

The Madison-St. Clair Record does not describe the defendants' response to these claims, and it's possible that Haas and his employer were not at fault. But this story is important because it illustrates vividly the kind of legal action victims of big rig crashes can take to help themselves when they are hurt by no fault of their own. As a St. Louis semi truck accident attorney, I know how deeply accidents like this can affect victims' lives. The serious consequences of tractor-trailer accidents are why there are detailed laws and regulations concerning truck drivers' and trucking companies' responsibilities to ensure public safety. For example, every day before driving, truck drivers are required to inspect the last safety report on their vehicles, and then inspect the vehicle again from top to bottom to be sure that it is in safe operating condition and good working order. The driver is also required to sign the report to show that he or she personally was aware of the vehicle's condition upon beginning work. Failure to thoroughly inspect the vehicle could constitute negligence, meaning that the driver did not do his or her duty to keep other drivers safe. This is what Jennings and Bricker allege in their suit.

Continue reading "Trucker and Trucking Company Sued for Alleged Negligence in Truck Maintenance" »