Earlier last month in West Virginia, one person was seriously injured when one semi-truck rear-ended another truck that was parked on the side of the highway. According to one local West Virginia news source, the accident occurred in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 on a Friday afternoon.
Evidently, one semi-truck had attempted to pull off the highway at a rest area but missed the exit. Rather than wait until the next rest area or exit, that driver pulled his car off to the side of the highway. Another truck traveling northbound on I-81 was unable to avoid a collision with the stopped truck and crashed into it from behind.
As emergency responders arrived on the scene, they needed to extricate one person who was in the sleeper area of the truck. That person was taken to a nearby hospital and admitted with serious but non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the semi-truck that had stopped on the side of the road was cited by police for a stopping violation. It is unclear how much of the truck was actually encroaching on the road at the time of the accident. However, given the reports by police, it seems that the truck was not completely off the side of the road at the time of the accident.
Truck Accidents in Maryland
It seems that each month there are several accounts of serious or fatal truck accidents occurring on Maryland roads. As with any type of accident, the causes behind fatal truck accidents vary, but in too many cases the injured motorist is not the one who caused the accident.
Since semi-trucks have the potential to cause such massive damage, state and federal governments require that truck drivers obtain a special license to operate commercial vehicles. The requirements to obtain a commercial drivers license are many, and truck drivers must maintain a certain standard of professionalism in order to maintain their license. For example, if a semi-truck driver is caught drinking and driving, they may lose their license.
All this is to say that the law requires semi-truck drivers to live up to a certain standard when it comes to how they operate their vehicles. When a truck driver makes a critical mistake that results in a serious injury or the loss of a human life, it may be that the truck driver violated that duty in some way. If that is the case, the injured party – or their family if the accident victim died as a result – may be able to seek financial compensation from the negligent truck driver. In some cases, it may be possible to seek compensation from the truck driver’s employer as well. To learn more, contact a dedicated Maryland accident attorney.
Have You Been Injured in a Maryland Truck Accident?
If you or a loved one has recently been involved in any kind of Maryland truck accident, it may be that you are entitled to receive financial compensation for the injuries or loss you sustained. The skilled personal injury attorneys at the Maryland-based law firm of Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers have decades of collective experience bringing cases on behalf on injured Marylanders and know what it takes to be successful in a Maryland court of law. Call 410-654-3600 today to set up a free consultation with a dedicated personal injury advocate at Lebowitz & Mzhen.
More Blog Posts:
Semi-Truck Driver Charged in Fatal I-95 Truck Accident, Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog, published July 28, 2015.
Two Dead, One Injured in Late-Night Maryland Truck Accident, Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog, published August 11, 2015.