Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

A semi truck overturned recently on Arizona State Route 347, spilling out a massive amount of diesel fuel. The accident injured multiple people, required hazmat intervention to secure and clean up the scene and resulted in the closure of the highway for several hours.

According to Arizona police officials, more than 2,000 gallons of diesel were spilled onto the highway. While diesel is less likely than gasoline to accidentally combust and start an uncontrollable fire, the risk is still there. Regardless, however, it still poses a risk to the local environment. As said above, a state hazmat team had to come in and spend several hours cleaning up the immediate area and securing what fuel they could to prevent it from pouring into the local ecosystem and water table.

Plus the fumes of the stuff are known to be unhealthy for humans to breathe. While no announcement has been made about the matter, it is quite probable that some of the hospitalizations that occurred at the accident were in response to exposure to the diesel.

There were ultimately seven people hospitalized following the accident, again for reasons that have not yet been released to the public. Details on the accident remain unusually sparse even days after the event. There is no word about the exact cause of the semi tipping over, whether alcohol was involved or whether there was a collision between the truck and other drivers.

But by their very nature, tractor-trailers are a disruptive influence on the road. Normally accidents like this don't happen, but when they do, the effect ripples outward immediately. A mishap involving one truck caused significant impact to emergency services, other drivers on the road and the local environment — all in the space of a few seconds. People are regularly injured in accidents involving semi trucks, because there's just no good way to come out of a tractor-trailer accident.

As a Missouri tractor-trailer accident attorney, I was surprised to see an article about a crash that took place almost entirely between interstate trucks. According to a May 21 article from the Springfield News-Leader, the four-vehicle crash killed Anthony Butler, 44, of Memphis, Tenn. Butler was a passenger in a semi that ran off the road on eastbound Interstate 44 in Phelps County, hitting two separate parked semi trailers as well as a passenger car. None of the people in those vehicles suffered serious injuries, but the driver of the runaway truck, Kevin Cavanaugh, 23, suffered serious injuries. The two men from the trucks were treated for minor injuries at the Phelps County Regional Medical Center.

The crash happened around 2:55 a.m. near a rest area on Interstate 44 around mile marker 178. It was unclear why Cavanaugh, of Phoenix, ran off the road, but his rig first hit a parked semi truck driven by Cody McKee, 35, of Fort Smith. Cavanaugh’s truck then hit another parked truck with Troy Coffelt, 51, of Springdale, Ark. McKee and Coffelt both suffered minor injuries as a result. Cavanaugh’s big rig also hit a 2011 Volvo, but the article said no one in that vehicle was injured. Butler was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead after the accident; he was not wearing a seat belt. Cavanaugh was airlifted to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis with serious injuries. The article did not specify whether authorities planned to ticket or charge Cavanaugh.

Of course, figuring out the cause of this crash is for the Missouri Highway Patrol, and the truckers’ insurance companies, to do. But as a southern Illinois semi truck accident lawyer, I suspect the lateness of the hour had something to do with it. Federal law requires truckers to get a certain amount of rest in between stints of driving, because fatigued driving causes bad decisions that can kill or seriously injure other people in traffic. If Cavanaugh was trying to push too far past his fatigue, and especially if he was past his hours of service for the day, he may have caused exactly the kind of accident that those laws are intended to prevent. It’s lucky that he hit the parked trucks — whose drivers were probably following the rules about rest — rather than cars, which a runaway big rig could easily have crushed in an accident.

Continue reading "Crash Between Several Large Trucks Near Rolla Kills Passenger and Hospitalizes Driver" »

As a Missouri tractor-trailer accident lawyer, I was interested to see a truck crash that fortunately caused no serious injuries, but left about 250 buildings in Kansas City temporarily without power. As the Kansas City Star reported May 13, the truck ran into a power pole after the driver’s girlfriend jumped onto the side of the truck. The couple apparently had a dispute, possibly over ownership of the coat the driver was wearing. The scuffle caused the driver to lose control and eventually hit a power transformer belonging to Kansas City Power & Light. The woman suffered minor injuries in the crash but will be arrested on an unrelated outstanding warrant; the man may be ticketed for careless driving.

The dispute started outside the unnamed driver’s house, when he was walking to his rig. He said the woman approached him on the street and accused him or wearing her coat. He declined to give her the coat and instead got into his big rig. As he drove away, however, the woman jumped onto a protruding area of the truck and continued arguing with him through the window, which was open. The driver told a KMOV reporter that he drove very slowly as the woman attempted to get into the truck, hitting the side of the truck. The Star said they were punching each other. The driver lost control near the intersection of 31st and Walnut streets and hit a pole, disabling a transformer and knocking out power to the region. The crash also knocked power lines down onto the truck. The woman was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

As a St. Louis semi truck accident attorney, I’m pleased that no one was seriously hurt by this accident. However, that may be nothing but good luck, given the chaos that apparently gave rise to the crash. A driver distracted by a physical fight could easily run into an occupied building or another vehicle rather than a power pole, putting the people inside at risk of serious injuries or even death. Thanks to the great weight of a commercial truck, even a slow-speed crash could do serious damage to a structure or a smaller car. Police were reportedly considering a reckless driving ticket for the driver, but under the circumstances, we wonder if a similar citation would be appropriate for the other person involved in the fight.

Continue reading "Trucker’s Dispute With Girlfriend Leads to Crash Causing Power Outage in Kansas City" »

Just after 3 a.m. on Monday, a semi truck collided with two other vehicles on Freeway 60 near Pomona, California, leaving two victims dead and another two injured.

The trucking accident took place between the Chino Valley Freeway and Reservoir Street.

According to police involved in the investigation after the accident, the two cars had both pulled over onto the right shoulder of the freeway because one of the vehicles had run out of gas, and the other was attempting to help. At this time, the semi truck apparently swerved into the shoulder and hit the two people who were out of the car. The crash then resulted in the semi overturning, and started a small fire to further complicate matters.

One man and one woman were killed in the accident, with one of the victims falling off the overpass to the road below, which was Gary Road.

As a precaution, the semi truck driver was taken to a nearby hospital for monitoring. California Highway Patrol officers say they are not sure if alcohol or drug intoxication is a factor in the accident, but that they are still investigating whether this is the case.

As a result of the collision, an alert was issued and all eastbound traffic lanes were shut down due to the accident. Traffic didn't open for normal movement until nearly 7 a.m., almost four hours after the initial impact.

Once again, the severity of the accident shows how dangerous semi trucks can be to other people on the road, even those not actively driving. The shoulder is supposed to be a relatively safe place someone can change their tire or stop in the event of an emergency, but all it takes is one negligent semi truck driver to turn it into a very dangerous place to be indeed.

The names of the victims in the crash, along with the name of the driver, have not yet been released.

As a St. Louis semi truck crash attorney, I was interested to see a short item about a crash between a big rig and a car full of travelers from New York state. According to a May 10 article from the St. Joseph News-Press, a Freightliner hit a 1995 Dodge late on Monday night near Rock Port, Missouri. The crash overturned the Dodge and ejected all four of the people inside, all of whom were listed as from Cold Springs, NY. Christopher Darman, 20, had moderate injuries, while the three others in the car all sustained serious injuries and were airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Omaha. The truck driver, David Hollenberg of Cameron, Missouri, was not injured.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s accident report suggests that Hollenberg was at fault. As both vehicles went north on Interstate 29, the report said, the tractor-trailer overtook and rear-ended the Dodge. The crash caused the Dodge to roll over onto the driver’s side and into the path of the semi, which struck the car again and pushed it off the highway. None of the four people inside were wearing seat belts, and all four were thrown from the car. Seriously injured were Joseph Darman, 54, the driver; Rebecca Darman, 18; and Amanda Playford, 24. All were taken to the same hospital as Christopher Darman, but later moved to Omaha. The 18-wheeler also overturned and landed on its passenger side.

The accident report and the article are short and leave many questions unanswered. As a Missouri tractor-trailer accident lawyer, I would like to know whether the rear-end accident was caused by anything other than ordinary negligence by the trucker. This matters because if the truck driver was at fault, these families may be able to collect financial compensation for the medical treatment they now need. And that matters because the airlifting suggests that they were seriously injured enough to require more help than a closer hospital could provide, possibly including a trauma center. Traumatic injuries like these are usually life-altering, leaving victims with at least some disability for the rest of their lives. They are also more expensive to treat than most ordinary families can afford, which is why many victims ultimately consider a lawsuit.

Continue reading "St. Joseph Tractor-Trailer Accident Sends Four New York Residents to the Hospital" »

According to the Washington State Patrol, a woman recently was killed following a collision between a semi truck and a passenger car near Arlington, on Interstate 5. The collision happened in the highway's southbound lanes, just north of Highway 531, shortly after 3:30 in the morning. Reports confirm that traffic was immediately shut down in the area as a result of the wreck, and did not resume normal activity until four hours later.

The passenger vehicle was a 2001 Honda Accord, driven by an 87-year-old resident of Camano Island. Immediately before the trucking accident, the Honda was in the rightmost lane, moving slower than normal traffic. The driver of the semi came up on the smaller car and tried to turn aside, but was unable to avoid hitting the smaller vehicle. The Honda was thrown across all traffic lanes, coming to a stop in the median. The 75-year-old woman passenger in the car was apparently killed on impact.

The car's driver was taken to a nearby hospital by medical helicopter. He is still at the hospital and is listed as in critical condition.

According to police, there is still no word on why the car was moving so slowly. Alcohol has been ruled out as a possibility for both the driver of the semi and the driver of the Accord.

While it is fairly clear that the driver of the semi is at least not entirely at fault in this case, the collision illustrates something that has come up as a concern time and time again in such matters. Specifically, semi trucks are huge. They are very difficult to control, and if attention wavers or an unexpected situation comes up, their ability to respond is incredibly limited. The semi driver had time to see the problem and react, but still was unable to get the vehicle under control without causing the collision.

As a St. Louis tractor-trailer accident lawyer, I know the trucking industry is pushing for federal regulators to relax restrictions on the size and weight of the heaviest commercial trucks, so that trucks can haul more goods at once. I have reservations about this from a safety standpoint, and I was pleased to see at least one Missouri state trooper agree with me. Mike Halford, Troop Chapter F president of the Missouri Highway Patrol and a legislative liaison, authored a May 2 opinion piece on the subject for the Springfield News-Leader. In it, Halford described what he sees as the dangers larger trucks could pose to the ordinary drivers with whom they share the road. He asked Congress to consider safety when it makes its decision.

Currently, commercial heavy trucks have a weight limit of 80,000 pounds under federal law. They also may not use more than one trailer at a time. The proposed changes would allow two or even three trailers attached to the same truck cab, and increase the weight limit to 97,000 pounds, which is a 17,000-pound increase (eight and a half tons). The trucking industry would like these changes because larger trucks could carry more goods, making the costs of hauling more efficient. Halford and other safety advocates are concerned that the heavier trucks would take longer to brake and wear out brake equipment sooner, which could lead to more accidents. And when the heavier trucks do crash, Halford noted, the laws of physics mean they can do more damage to a small passenger car or SUV.

I'm sorry to say that, as a Missouri semi truck accident attorney, I know this is already true under current weight limits. An 18-wheeler can weigh 20 times as much as a four-door sedan. In a crash between the two, the truck's much greater weight translates into greater force, which unfortunately means more serious injuries for the people in the car than they might face if the other vehicle were also a car. As Halford phrases it, accidents become severe accidents and severe accidents become fatalities. Adding more weight to trucks raises that risk further. It would also require drivers of both cars and tractor-trailers to adjust their driving styles to account for the greater braking time required by the greater weight. Especially because some drivers already don't respect the greater braking time trucks need, this could lead to more crashes.

Continue reading "Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper Calls on Congress to Reject Heavier Semi Trucks" »

U.S. Route 60 was shut down near Mesa, Arizona, when a semi truck flipped over, the accident resulting in the death of the truck driver.

According to officers sent to investigate the scene, the trucking accident happened near 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday the 28th, in the middle of the area's rush hour traffic. Robert Bailey, a spokesperson for the DPS, said that the truck had apparently gone out of control, rear ending several vehicles before flipping over near the exit to Dobson.

Both directions of the highway were closed as a result of the accident at the McClintock and Country Club exits off the highway, with traffic backing up for several miles in each direction.

The truck's driver had to be removed from the cab with equipment, and was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Sadly, he later died there as a result of his extensive injuries.

This was not the only danger, however. The truck was carrying compressed oxygen tanks, a serious risk for everyone in the nearby area. Compressed oxygen is known to be an explosive hazard, and oxygen is a primary fuel for fire as well.

"We want to make sure we have everything controlled as far as no tanks are exposing chemicals, identifying those chemicals, and at that point allowing DPS to come in and clean up and then move on," Mesa fire department Captain Robert Smith commented.

The traffic jam that resulted from the accident lasted about an hour and a half, though traffic was still slow in the area for some time after that as well. Under the supervision of local police, some motorists were allowed to turn around and drive the wrong way down the freeway in order to alleviate congestion and allow people to get home.

The eastbound lanes of the highway were finally opened around 9:30 p.m., four hours after the initial accident.