Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

As a St. Louis semi truck accident attorney, I have long believed that talking on the phone while driving is a bad idea for anyone — but especially for truckers in charge of multi-ton vehicles. That’s why I was pleased to see a Feb. 23 article saying that the American Trucking Association has expressed limited support for a proposed federal rule banning the use of hand-held cell phones by truckers on the job. The ban was proposed in December by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and Transport Topics Online reported Feb. 23 that the ATA has filed papers supporting a ban for all traffic, including but not limited to heavy trucks. Another trucking industry group, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, filed comments Feb. 22 opposing the rule.

The FMCSA has already banned the practice of texting while driving a tractor-trailer. Fines for violating that rule are $2,750 per driver and up to $11,000 for the driver’s employer. The proposed rule on cell phones would use the same fines to penalize use of a cell phone in the cab of a moving truck. As it currently stands, the rule would only ban hand-held use of the phones; hands-free headsets would still be allowed. In its statement, the ATA asked the FMCSA to allow the headsets, saying phones are an important way for truckers to communicate with their dispatchers as well as family and friends they’re away from for long periods. It also said drivers should still be permitted to push some buttons to start a call. OOIDA, by contrast, said cell phones are no more dangerous than CB radios or GPS devices, and existing reckless driving laws should be enforced.

Here in the St. Louis area, we have firsthand recent experience with the consequences of truckers’ cell phone use. In 2008, a trucker named Jeffrey Knight plowed into stopped traffic on Highway 40, killing three people and injuring 14 others. He told investigators that he had been reaching for his phone at the moment of the crash. It’s possible that Knight’s mistake was taking his eyes off the road rather than the cell phone as such. But as a Missouri tractor-trailer accident lawyer, I wonder whether he would have been tempted to reach for the phone if he were required to use a hands-free system, such as the voice-activated systems available in some new cars. Those systems are pricey, but even if trucking companies don’t feel that saving lives is worth the cost, it should consider the tens of millions in legal claims awarded to Knight’s many victims.

Continue reading "Federal Trucking Regulators Propose a Ban on Hand Held Cell Phones in Moving Trucks" »

They're being called the biggest changes to the interstate shipping process in the last decade: The federal government's Compliance Safety Accountability Program recently went into effect, and looks set to increase the weight of attention that all law enforcement elements give to matters of vehicle safety. Critics of the program note that total accidents involving tractor-trailers are already on the decline; however, advocates of the program emphasize the idea that tightening up the standards will increase the rate of decline and result in further improvements.

The new guidelines do not actually introduce many new rules so much as increase the weight that agencies apply to violations. Failure to tie down cargo did not always result in a mark against a company if no one was injured before it was discovered, for example. Now it will be flagged as a penalty from the get-go. According to those familiar with the case, the ultimate penalty for repeated violations and operating outside safe parameters remains the threat of the company being closed down.

This will also put heightened pressure on customers who hire shipping companies to be more selective in their choices. Customers who choose to pick companies with good prices but very poor safety ratings will be opening themselves to potential liabilities under the new rules. The truckers wouldn't be on the roads without customers, and if customers hire companies that are consistently demonstrated as operating under unsafe conditions, this provides a certain basis for those plaintiffs who are injured either directly or indirectly in a semi trucking accident.

One of the larger pieces of contention in the new regulations is the hourly reduction that is expected to come with them. The current standards are that drivers can legally drive 11 hours per 24 hour period. The new guidelines are expected to drop this to 10 hours in order to reduce overall driver fatigue issues. This will significantly alter shipping schedules and driver pay, and unlike the rules regarding stricter enforcement of existing regulation, does propose an actual new element.

As a Missouri semi truck accident lawyer, I was sorry to read about a serious accident in Springfield involving a victim from neighboring Kansas. As KWCH in Wichita reported Feb. 9, 15-year-old Dillon McKee suffered massive brain trauma Jan. 18 after he was sideswiped by a semi truck on Highway 44. McKee and his uncle were on their way home from Springfield, Mo. when their vehicle broke down. McKee was helping the tow truck driver when the trucker apparently drove too close to the disabled vehicle. Something on the truck hit McKee in the right side of his head, causing massive trauma that doctors expect to leave him permanently disabled.

McKee and his uncle weren’t far out of Springfield when their truck broke down. Neither had a mobile phone, so the uncle, who was not named, left to get help. McKee stayed in the cab of the truck while he waited, but got out when the tow truck arrived. That’s when a semi passed too close to the other trucks and hit McKee, then the disabled pickup truck. According to cousin Jamie Bell, the object that struck McKee took off much of the right side of his skull; doctors say he will never walk or talk again. The trucker then sideswiped the pickup. Family members say the white semi may have red paint on it from the sideswipe. They’re asking anyone with information about the truck to get in touch with the Missouri Highway Patrol at 417-895-6868.

Bell said her family is looking for information and some closure. But as a St. Louis tractor-trailer accident attorney, I know the family may also soon face the more practical problem of how to handle McKee’s care. Unfortunately, severe brain injuries like this often require full-time care for the rest of the victim’s life. That can get expensive very quickly for an ordinary family, especially when budget cuts constrain public health programs like Medicare. If the trucker in this accident is identified, he or she – and the trucking company he or she was working for – could be held legally and financially responsible for all of those costs and others. In addition, the trucker might face charges for leaving the scene or failing to move over in the first place.

Continue reading "Wichita Family Publicly Begs Trucker to Acknowledge Accident That Disabled Youth" »

Tragedy struck in Lindsey, Calif., this past Friday when a semi tractor-trailer crushed a passenger sedan and killed a woman inside, injuring two others.

A spokesman from the local fire department said the truck accident occurred near the crossing of Avenue 224 and Road 196 in town around 1 p.m. on Friday. The truck was carrying two trailers of oranges, each trailer 28 feet long and massing multiple tons. The truck collided with the side of a 1995 Volkswagen Passat sedan. The collision drove the Passat for many feet and smashed it into the side of a tree, crushing the vehicle and pinning the three passengers of the car inside with no way out.

The driver of the vehicle was killed instantly, though it is unclear whether her side of the vehicle struck the tree or was hit by the truck. The other passengers were taken to two local hospitals, one via ambulance and the other through emergency airlift. No information has been released about the deceased driver or the other two passengers except that the two survivors were taken to Kaweah Delta Medical Center and Community Regional Medical Center for their treatments.

The accident shows how helpless the drivers of smaller vehicles are in an accident with a semi truck. There are no safety measures that would have helped in this case; side curtain airbags don't mean that much when a multi-ton vehicle collides with a much smaller car.

No information has been released on the driver of the orange carrier, and indeed there is very little specific information about the accident. There is no word that the police have become involved, nor is it clear whether the semi or the sedan was the vehicle at fault in the collision. Regardless of fault, however, it is clear that the incident was tragic.

As a St. Louis tractor-trailer accident attorney, I was very pleased to read about a trucking accident that could have ended much worse than it did. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Feb. 5, Stacey Spies, 37, suffered a mild concussion and a major fright after a sheet of ice fell from a semi ahead of her on Interstate 70. Spies, of St. Peters, was traveling about 60 mph when the ice broke the windshield of her car and hit her in the side of the head. Luckily, she was able to stop without being involved in another accident, and suffered only minor injuries. No one else was injured, but another motorist stopped and helped her stay calm until help arrived. It wasn’t reported whether the truck driver stopped or even noticed the accident.

Spies said she felt “very, very lucky” that the accident was not worse. She was traveling east on Interstate 70 on the afternoon of Feb. 3, several lanes to the left of the semi truck. From there, she was able to see the sheet of ice come off the top of the truck and head through the windshield of her Chevy Cavalier. She said she grabbed the wheel and screamed, but came to a complete stop in her own lane, then called 911 to get help from the Missouri Highway Patrol. The Missouri Highway Patrol reminded all drivers to clear as much ice and snow as possible from their vehicles, because even a small piece of ice can weigh several pounds. A spokesperson for the AAA of Missouri said ice on the roofs of vehicles can also fall on the vehicle’s own windshield, blinding the driver.

I’m pleased that Spies and other passers-by on the interstate were not badly hurt. But as a southern Illinois semi truck accident lawyer, I’m disappointed that no mention was made here of the truck driver’s culpability in this accident. In many states, state laws specifically require drivers to clear snow and ice from their roofs, often in response to accidents worse than this. That’s not the case in Missouri and Illinois, but both states do make drivers responsible for maintaining their vehicles and ensuring they’re safe to drive. In addition to any citation or criminal charges, drivers and their auto insurance companies could face lawsuits from anyone they injure by failing to make sure their vehicles are free of ice before they get on the road.

Continue reading "St. Peters Woman Shaken but Only Mildly Injured After Ice From Truck Roof Hits Windshield" »

As a Missouri trucking accident lawyer, I was interested to read about an accident in Claycomo, Mo. recently that caused an unusual cargo spill: live pigs. According to the Kansas City Star, a truck overturned on the ramp from Interstate 435 to Interstate 35 on the morning of Jan. 24. A spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol said the truck driver took the curve too fast, causing him to lose control, go off the road and overturn the truck. The accident killed several of the 700-plus live pigs that were the truck’s cargo, and caused 35 to 40 to get loose on the interstate. The driver was not injured, but the crash closed the ramp for about five hours.

The Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman said the trucker was “just too fast for the curve,” causing the crash at around 8:30 a.m. The crash flipped the truck over at the side of the interstate, spilling its cargo of pigs. The pigs reportedly wandered loose on the road and adjacent areas after the crash, until emergency responders were able to corral them. The spokesman said rounding them up was challenging, because “they go every which way but the way you want them to go.” A veterinarian from Kansas treated injured pigs, and they were loaded onto another truck as emergency crews tried to turn the original truck back upright. The job would have been more challenging if the hogs had been full-grown, the patrolman said, but they were only the size of dogs.

KCTV had footage of emergency crews at the scene.

This story is provoking some giggles online because of the image of pigs “running wild” on a highway junction. But as a southern Illinois semi truck accident attorney, I know how easily this accident could have been a tragedy. Any rollover involving a large truck is a cause for concern because large trucks could literally crush anything they fall on, thanks to their huge size and weight. A cargo spill on the interstate could also be a serious hazard. A large load of anything falling on the highway creates a reason to brake quickly or take evasive action, which could cause problems if not every driver is paying attention, A load of uncontrollable live animals makes that problem significantly worse. It’s fortunate that this crash didn’t cause any of those problems, but the crash is a reminder that all truckers, and especially those with live or hazardous cargo, need to be careful on curves.

Continue reading "Tractor Trailer Overturns on Kansas City Ramp and Spills Cargo of Live Pigs on Road" »

In a story that would be comical if not for how frightening it must have been, a semi truck driver was cited for a number of offenses that included marijuana possession following an accident that literally sent his rig sailing airborne into the Calapooia River near Brownville, Oregon.

Patrick Smith of Vancouver, Washington, was driving southbound on Interstate 5 when he lost control of his tractor-trailer. His vehicle crashed over the median and into the northbound lanes before Smith managed to get the truck back into the median. At this point he collided with a culvert and was launched over the culvert wall. The truck was airborne at a height of about eight feet off the road, and flew about 25 feet after clearing the road, coming down still traveling at speed on the banks of the Calapooia River. The car plunged 10 feet into the water, submerging the front tires of the vehicle.

Despite all this, the almost action-movie-quality accident injured no one except Smith himself. Smith was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, and was charged with several offenses once police arrived, including failure to maintain his lane, possession of a controlled substance in a motor vehicle and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Smith was apparently not intoxicated at the time of the accident, although the possession charge is suspicious enough.

The fact that the truck was traveling fast enough to be launched airborne shows just how much power is involved when a tractor-trailer is moving at highway speeds. It is fortunate that only the driver was hurt in this accident, because an out-of-control truck can easily demolish smaller passenger vehicles on the road. Tractor-trailers have a mass far greater than any other vehicle on the roadway, and drivers are urged to exercise caution when moving around them.