It doesn’t take much to become injured in a high-speed traffic accident on the interstate, especially when a large commercial truck is involved. A family sedan, minivan or SUV is no match against a big rig 18-wheeler, tanker truck, steel hauler, and other large motor vehicle. The shear size and mass of long-haul trucks means that a highway collision can involve multiple passenger cars, with attendant injuries to numerous vehicle occupants.
As personal injury lawyers serving the residents of Maryland and Washington, D.C., I and my legal staff know how easily an accident of any kind can knock a person out of the ranks of the healthy, physically-fit arena and into a hospital room with a long road to recovery. Similarly, the physical and psychological trauma of a car accident, boating incident, motorcycle wreck, or commuter bus collision can place a burden on the victim’ and his or her family almost from the get-go.
Of course, one of the most deadly types of traffic mishap has to be that of the commercial truck wreck. Some of the most seriously and deadly automobile accidents are caused by a negligent truck driver behind the wheel of a heavy construction vehicle, semi tractor-trailer rig, or large delivery box truck.
Whatever the situation, when a commercial trucking crash happens and someone is injured due to another party’s negligence, there may be good reason to file a personal injury lawsuit. In the case of a fatal crash, the family or estate of the deceased victim may wish to file a wrongful death suit against the responsible party(s).
In many traffic accident injury or wrongful death cases involving a commercial truck, state and/or local police will likely carry out an investigation to determine fault and to decide which party, if any, should be charged with a traffic violation or other criminal charges.
A while back, a Maryland family riding in their Toyota sport utility vehicle was caught up in a serious truck-related crash along a northbound stretch of I-81 near Martinsburg, WV. According to news reports at the time, the accident occurred during a Saturday evening when an 18-wheeler allegedly struck a smaller Toyota SUV from behind, causing the driver of the passenger vehicle to lose control.
Based on police reports, the force of the collision forced the smaller vehicle toward the right-hand side of the interstate, where it slammed into a nearby guard rail and subsequently overturned. According to witnesses, the tractor-trailer that reportedly caused the accident left the scene without stopping.
Once on the scene, police and emergency rescue personnel found the black SUV overturned and lying on its roof; rescue crews found a 47-year-old woman, her husband and their daughter trapped inside. Reports indicate that the family was from the Hagerstown, MD, area.
After freeing the family members from the damaged vehicle, EMS personnel transported the wife, who had received serious injuries during the incident, by medevac helicopter to Inova Fairfax Hospital. The woman’s husband and daughter where both taken to a local hospital for treatment of lesser injuries; they were subsequently released.
At the time of the news reports, police investigators had no hard information on the make, model or registration of the hit-and-run semi, and no additional details were available.
One person flown out after hit-and-run involving tractor-trailer, Journal-News.net,
November 14, 2011