Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

A recent story in the Belleville News-Democrat caught my interest. An 18-wheeler slammed into a guardrail in East St. Louis after its driver lost control of the truck, and several cartons of liquid that the truck was carrying spilled across Interstate 55/70. I am glad that no serious injuries resulted from this accident, but I am very troubled, as a St. Louis semi truck accident lawyer, that the trucker was reportedly driving on a suspended or revoked license. Regulations on truckers and trucking companies, such as requiring them to be licensed, are not onerous and exist for the sake of public safety. As this accident shows, flouting these regulations is dangerous to everyone on the roads, including unlicensed or otherwise unsafe drivers.

According to the article, trucker Larry Weissman, 55, of California, lost control of his rig just before midnight on June 24. He was taken in an ambulance to St. Louis University Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Illinois authorities cited him for improper lane usage and driving on a suspended or revoked license. The article did not say what type of liquid Weissman was carrying, but the Environmental Protection Agency and an environmental cleanup company inspected the liquids that spilled across the interstate and determined that they were not hazardous. Even though this crash was minor compared with recent tragic accidents involving semi trailers and multiple cars, traffic on the Interstate had to be diverted and was backed up for several hours.

We don't know from the news report why Weissman's license was revoked or suspended, but generally, driver's licenses are revoked or suspended because of unsafe driving behavior including speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or reckless driving. That makes me wonder, as a southern Illinois tractor trailer crash attorney, whether Weissman was also ignoring other important trucking safety laws. This could incude restrictions on the number of hours that a trucker can drive before having a rest period, or inspecting the condition of his truck before setting out on each day's drive. If he was employed by a trucking company that knew that his driver's license was not in good standing, that company could also be considered negligent -- and it could face administrative or criminal penalties as well as a lawsuit from anyone hurt by its negligence. Putting a potentially dangerous driver in charge of a truck that weighs up to 22 times more than other vehicles on the road risks public safety.

Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt in this accident. But if an innocent victim, such as a motorist in a nearby car, had been hurt or killed, they or their family members would do well to talk to an experienced Missouri 18-wheeler accident attorney to learn about their rights. Negligent truck drivers and their employers do not have the right to ignore the law, and if they do it anyway and other people are hurt, they should be held accountable. Victims of accidents with large trucks often sustain serious injuries that are costly to treat, and the law says those costs should come out of the pockets of those who are responsible for their injuries. That's why the law allows victims to sue negligent truck drivers and the trucking companies that employ them to recover financial compensation. Victims can claim medical costs, pain and suffering, lost quality of life, lost past and future wages, damage or loss of personal property such as a vehicle, and damage to close relationships.

Continue reading "Trucker Driving on Suspended or Revoked License Loses Control of 18-Wheeler" »

As a southern Illinois semi truck accident lawyer, I was dismayed to read about a fatal accident allegedly caused by a semi truck near the border of Illinois and Iowa on Interstate 80. The trucker who allegedly caused the wreck was employed by trucking company VGS Express, which has nearly the worst record of compliance with trucking regulations that any company can have. Possibly as a result, an accident took the life of Abby Lynn Vermeire, 24, just weeks before her wedding. The same accident injured her fiance, Erik Hayek, a passenger, and another driver, Jacob Harris.

According to news reports, Hryhoriy Kozachok, 53, of Brooklyn, N.Y, was driving a semitrailer for VGS Express on I-80 near Davenport, Iowa when police records say he tried to make an unsafe and illegal U-turn from the eastbound to the westbound lanes of the highway. Hayek, 30, and Vermeire, 24, both of Bettendorf, Iowa, were in a car that ran into and then under the 18-wheeler. Their car was then rear-ended by an SUV driven by Harris, 19, of East Moline. Vermeire, the front-seat passenger in the car, was taken to Genesis Medical Center in Davenport and was pronounced dead about 24 hours later. Hayek, who was Vermeire's fiancé, and an unidentified backseat passenger were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Harris was treated and released.

VGS Express has one of the worst records in the country for compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration driver regulations. On a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being the best and 100 being the worst, the FMCSA rates the company a 99.64. Over the last 30 months, VGS violated driver regulations 100 times, including ones regarding log books; driving while disqualified, ill or fatigued; and requirements that drivers speak English. VGS drivers violated regulations far more often than drivers for other companies: 21% of VGS drivers were in violation, compared with 6.6% nationally. The company’s score for vehicle inspection only barely clears a "deficient" rating and is several percentage points higher than the national average, with 72 vehicle violations over the last 30 months. Those problems include failing to secure vehicle equipment, flat tires, defective brakes and broken turn signals, among others. Drivers and vehicles that violate these regulations are taken "out of service," or off the road, until the problems are corrected. Thanks to this accident, the FMCSA will do a compliance audit of the company, reviewing its driver log books, licenses, medical certificates, maintenance records and results of random drug and alcohol tests.

This record suggests that VGS has been given many, many second chances to uphold its legal responsibilities to drive safely and avoid endangering other drivers -- yet it has continued to violate important safety regulations. As a Missouri tractor-trailer crash attorney, I am concerned that the FMCSA is unable to protect the public from negligent truckers and trucking companies. Truckers who violate regulations as frequently as VGS apparently does are choosing to put others in harm's way, and those who get hurt should not have to suffer in silence. Victims like the ones from this accident have had their lives turned upside down through no fault of their own. All of the victims of this accident will have a long road to emotional and physical recovery from this crash, and Hayek has called off his wedding for the most reason imaginable. In addition, the victims will probably see their financial costs mount as they undergo medical treatments, lose income from having to take time away from work and replace their vehicles that were totaled in the crash. It’s only fair to require that those who caused the wreck with their recklessness pay for the costs.

Continue reading "Trucking Company Involved in Death of Bride-to-Be Had Bad Safety Record" »

After last week's semi trailer accident in Mattoon, Ill., I was dismayed to read that a similar accident occurred just two days later in Missouri. In this case, two people were killed south of St. Louis because a semi truck driver took his eyes off the road and did not notice slowing traffic in front of him. As a St. Louis semi trailer crash attorney, I know how tragic the consequences of these accidents often are, and I hope that truckers will do everything that they can to avoid preventable accidents.

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, a tractor-trailer driver from Texas was driving down I-55 near St. Louis when he took his eyes off the road to look off to the right. The driver admits that he took his eyes off the road. When he looked back at the road, he wasn't able to stop for the traffic slowed in front of him, and his truck barreled into the cars. Cpl. Jeff Wilson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said the semi truck ran over the top of a Ford Focus and dragged it 100 yards, killing Charles Martin, 52, of Perryville, Missouri. Then, the tractor-trailer swerved right and hit more cars, killing Alana McKnight, 28, of Festus. Wilson and a Jefferson County prosecutor said the driver’s inattention may or may not lead to criminal charges. If charges are filed, they would most likely be charges of criminal negligence or reckless driving. Both noted that the comparatively huge size of the truck may or may not influence the decision to file charges. An accident reconstruction team is expected to take two weeks to complete its investigation.

As Wilson pointed out in the article, someone vehicle weighing 80,000 pounds on public roads could put others in great danger -- if he or she doesn't drive with utmost caution. This is why federal and state regulations restrict semi truck drivers from driving unless they are reasonably well rested and their vehicles are in good mechanical condition. Properly followed regulations would keep drivers not meeting these conditions off the road, because anything less is negligent driving. Drivers of trucks that are up to 22 times heavier than other vehicles on the road have a special responsibility to look out for others' safety. As distracted driving becomes an increasingly notorious cause of traffic accidents and fatalities, all drivers should be careful to focus their attention on the road. But truck drivers have a special responsibility to be careful, considering their capacity to do greater damage to others. As this article shows, a semi truck can run over and drag a Ford Focus, but a Ford Focus can't do the same to a semi truck.

Continue reading "St. Louis Area Sees Yet Another Trucking Crash Caused by Distracted Driving" »

As a southern Illinois 18-wheeler accident lawyer, I was saddened to read about a horrible accident near Mattoon, Ill. on Memorial Day. Holiday weekends often involve more tragic accidents than usual because so many people take road trips, and this means that we all have a duty to use extra caution in our holiday travel. Unfortunately, a semi truck driver allegedly was not paying attention as traffic ahead of him slowed down to accommodate road construction, and three people lost their lives.

According to the Champaign News-Gazette, a Louisiana semi truck driver was on Interstate 57 about two miles north of Mattoon when he reportedly looked down to find his map. Traffic ahead of him was slowing because two lanes were merging into one due to road resurfacing, and he didn't realize it until it was too late. His 18-wheeler hit the back of a red Trailblazer in front of him, which was almost stopped, and a chain reaction with eight other vehicles ensued. An SUV that was hit caught fire. Three people in the SUV were killed, and a fourth person was taken to the burn center at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. At least two of the 13 people hurt in the accident were critically injured. The truck driver was not injured, but was taken to a hospital for intoxication tests. The northbound lanes of the interstate were closed for more than seven hours while dozens of emergency personnel attended to the accident.

The longer I handle cases like this in my work as a Missouri tractor-trailer crash attorney, the more I am dismayed that preventable accidents like this continue to happen. Drivers depend on each other to drive carefully and make good decisions. This is especially true of semi truck drivers, who can kill or catastrophically injure people in smaller vehicles if they simply fail to pay attention. If the initial reports are accurate and the truck driver in this case really had taken his eyes off the road, the driver and his company may be held liable for the injuries, damage and death caused by the accident. Pulling off the road to look for and read the map might have cost the trucker some time, which might not please his employer, but it would have saved lives. It may be that the driver was under pressure to get to his destination quickly, or that he was fatigued from driving for many hours, or that he was not feeling well, and these conditions could have impaired his judgment about what risks were worth taking as he drove. Trucking regulations make it clear that if a driver's ability to be safe on the road is compromised in any way, the driver needs to avoid driving until that condition has been resolved.

It may be a while before the exact cause of the accident has been determined, but it is very important that all the victims contact a St. Louis semi truck collision attorney immediately in order to preserve their rights. In many cases, the trucking company’s insurance company starts working right away to limit its losses by trying to convince victims to accept an unacceptably low amount of compensation. Insurance companies know that victims often aren't aware of their rights, and they exploit this to save money by denying victims the full settlement they are entitled to. In fact, the law allows victims to claim all financial costs related to the accident from the trucker and trucking company that caused them, along with compensation for their injuries, physical and emotional pain and lost quality of life.

Continue reading "Allegedly Distracted Semi Truck Driver Plows Into Slowed Traffic Near Mattoon, Ill." »