Articles Posted in Truck Accident

 

Any type of auto accident can cause serious injury and even death, but those involving large trucks can be particularly devastating. Due to the sheer size and weight of a large truck (in excess of 10,000 pounds), accidents are far more likely to involve multiple car collisions and result in death.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a report in 2007 that highlighted the most common causes of truck accidents. The “Large Truck Causation Study” report is the first of its kind to examine the wide scope of factors that contribute to large commercial truck accidents. Using a nationwide sample of 967 crashes, researchers concluded that certain circumstances are most prevalent in truck accidents. Below is a list of the most common trucking accident causes, and their corresponding level of risk. Continue reading

A jury has awarded a 40-year-old woman $32.5 million for injuries she sustained in a 2006 truck crash. Kristen Zak, then 31, sustained a traumatic brain injury and developed partial paralysis after the car she was a passenger in slid on any icy patch of road and into a median. There it collided with a transport truck that had crashed into the median just an hour before.

According to the plaintiff’s truck crash attorneys, trucker Terry Brown Jr. had been going too fast and did not follow safety regulations, which required him to put out reflective triangles and turn on the disabled truck’s flashing lights. The jury found Brown and J.B. Hunt Transport 30% liable for Zak’s injuries. Matt Robison, who was driving the car she had been riding when the accident happened, was found 40% liable.

After the truck crash, Zak, who now also suffers from serious cognitive deficits, was left wheelchair-bound and unable to take care of her young daughter or recognize the man who was fiancé.

Continue reading

Worcester, Mass. – A fatal accident involving two pedestrians and a tractor-trailer occurred Thursday evening, just after 9:30 pm. When police arrived at Kelley Square, they found 24-year-old Sarah Ewing pinned under the truck’s rear wheels.

Witnesses said the driver of the 18-wheeler pulled to the side of Millbury Street to let a fire truck pass, then entered Kelley Square and attempted a right-hand turn toward I-290’s on-ramp. According to a preliminary investigation, the truck apparently cut the turn too sharply resulting in a collision with a light pole. The two pedestrians involved in the accident were standing by the light pole at the time of the collision. Upon impact, the pole began to fall, forcing the pedestrians to run in the direction of the truck to avoid being struck by the falling pole.

Continue reading

A Milton, Ma. multi-vehicle collision killed a Mattapan man while injuring three other people on Saturday. Kelly Young was 56.

According to police, the head-on chain-reaction happened when a Boston woman in a Toyota Corolla was rear-ended by a Holbrook man in his vehicle. The impact of the crash sent the man’s auto into oncoming traffic, where it hit Young’s vehicle head on. An 8-year-old girl was among those who were inured.

On Sunday, a deadly Beverly traffic crash claimed the life of a female passenger. The accident happened when the car she was in went through a red light and hit a truck. The driver of the truck was critically injured.

Continue reading

A 68-year-old woman was killed on Wednesday after she was struck in a Boston-tractor trailer crash. She was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where she died from her injuries.

No charges were filed against the 38-year-old Saugus truck driver. Witnesses say that the woman appears to have been crossing against the light. The investigation, however, is still open.

Also Wednesday, 65-year-old Marcia Deihl sustained fatal injuries in a Cambridge dump truck crash. The bicyclist was leaving a Whole Foods Market parking lot when she was struck. Diehl was pronounced dead at the Massachusetts bicycle accident site.

Continue reading

A Southbridge tow truck driver was killed on Wednesday after he was struck by a box truck while helping a disabled vehicle on the Massachusetts Turnpike. The driver, 22-year-old Kevin St. Pierre, was preparing to tow a car that had a flat tire when he was hit. He was pronounced dead at the accident scene. The driver of the box truck has not been criminally charged.

In the Telegram & Gazette, Statewide Towing Association executive director Kim Lowell in Southboro is quoted as saying that every five days in the United States a tow truck driver is killed. Nearly 90% of the deaths are fatal and almost all incidents take place on limited-access highways.

Tow truck driver deaths continue to happen despite the state’s Move Over Law, which requires that drivers slow down or move to the next free lane as they approach a maintenance or emergency vehicle that is stopped on the road. State troopers in Massachusetts have also been killed on the job after being struck while providing roadside help. Often, these workers, like pedestrians, are fully exposed and vulnerable to injury. They have nothing to protect them from the impact of a collision with a fast-moving vehicle. The outcome may prove catastrophic.

A Plymouth, Massachusetts woman now has to undergo physical therapy after she was involved in a truck accident involving a runaway trailer. Patricia Jordan was driving an SUV when the trailer, which had detached from the truck after the vehicle went into a slight curve, hit her RAV 4, causing it to slam into a concrete barrier. The 48-year-old mother experienced soreness in her neck and back after the incident.

According to investigators, the trailer was not properly locked into place. It also was overloaded, exceeding the authorized weight limit by 8,000 pounds at 88,280 pounds. The truck was transporting corrugated cardboard.

While runaway trailer accidents are a rare occurrence, they can be deadly. Often the trailer may be moving at a fast speed and carrying a heavy load. Causes of runaway trailer accidents:

If you or someone you love was seriously injured in a Massachusetts motor vehicle crash please contact our Boston car accident law firm right away. Unfortunately, serious collisions can happen during the holiday season. You want to speak with an experienced attorney to explore your legal options.

On Christmas Eve, one man died in an East Boston pedestrian accident when he was hit by a truck. No criminal charges have been filed against the driver. The pedestrian was in his sixties.

On Monday, a Charlton multi-vehicle crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike seriously injured one person and killed another. The collision happened in heavy traffic when two cars and a tractor-trailer collided. Another tractor-trailer then hit one of the cars, a 2011 Toyota Camry. The driver of the car was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead but was later revived with critical injuries. His wife, a 64-year-old woman, died.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reporting a decline in both the number of Massachusetts motor vehicle crash fatalities as well as how many occurred in total in the U.S. According to the figures for 2013, there were 326 traffic deaths in the state last year, which is a decline from the 383 fatalities in 2012. Alcohol was a factor in 118 of the Massachusetts traffic deaths in 2013.

Nationally, the country lost 32,719 people in roadway crashes in 2013. This is also a decrease from the 33,782 traffic deaths from the year previous.

Overall, between 2012 and 2013, the U.S. saw a reduction in deaths and injuries of truck occupants, passenger car occupants, pedestrians, and young drivers, as well as in accidents where alcohol was a factor.

Five months after comedian Tracy Morgan sustained serious injuries in a truck accident, his lawyer is now saying that it is not certain whether or not the performer will fully recover. Morgan sustained a traumatic brain injury and numerous broken bones after the vehicle he was riding in was rear-ended in a tractor-trailer crash involving a Walmart vehicle. His friend, comedy writer James McNair, died from his injuries.

Now, Morgan’s lawyers are saying that because of the severity of his TBI, they don’t know if he will recover to become the “Tracy Morgan he once was.” Morgan’s uncertain progress is indicative of how with certain brain injuries it can take a while before doctors are able to determine to what extent a patient will get better.

Morgan filed a truck accident lawsuit against Walmart seeking damages. Other plaintiffs in the semi-truck crash case include Morgan’s assistant Jeffrey Millea, Krista Millea, and comedian Ardie Fuqua. They want compensatory damges, punititve damages, statutory damages, legal costs, and pre-and post judgment interest.

Contact Information