Articles Posted in Legal Concepts in Truck Accident Cases

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently affirmed that in regards to Maryland truck accident and personal injury cases, expert medical testimony is not necessarily required. In fact, in the particular case, Galloway v. HORNE CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION, Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit 2013, they held that expert medical testimony and evidence proving a causal connection between severe back injury following a severe four truck accident was not required.

The decision was regarding the plaintiff’s request for a new trial on damages only, concerning a severe highway accident that he was involved in. The plaintiff, who was driving an 18 wheeler, had come to a stop behind another tractor trailer, and had another 18 wheeler stop behind him. A dump truck that failed to stop then rammed the third truck into the plaintiff’s truck, and consequently into the truck in front of him. The plaintiff’s rig was deemed a loss by the insurer as a result of the collision.

The plaintiff sought medical treatment the next day, and as a result, for period of months he underwent extensive pain management therapy, physical therapy, and when that failed to ease his pain, underwent surgery whereby he had his herniated disk removed, and his spine was fused.

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In major trucking news, a group of independent truck drivers shut down a major terminal at the Port of Oakland, and blocked access to several more this week in protest of notorious congestion and other issues, which have left drivers essentially trapped in their big rigs for up to six hours, reportedly unable to even go to the bathroom, while waiting to pick up their next load. Drivers caught outside their vehicles face fines, and are not reimbursed for potentially unreasonable wait times.

Drivers at the port are forbidden from leaving their rigs once they are in line at the terminals, reportedly due to safety concerns. The group of more than 100 truckers shut down five areas, which have suffered some of the longest wait times since they were recently consolidated into a single terminal operated by industry giant SSA Marine.

The issue of long wait times is reportedly a recurring issue at this port, which led to drivers blocking the terminals for the same reasons back in 2004. The long waits at the SSA terminal are reportedly due to a change in the numbering system, which began in July, making it harder for the longshoremen to locate containers. One customer of the relevant terminal reported that he no longer used the port due to the long wait times. In one case, a shipment took almost a month to make it from the port to his San Francisco warehouse. (San Francisco is located just across the Bay Bridge from Oakland.)

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When I listened to the first news reports about the tragic collision between the two D.C. Metrorail trains on the Red Line yesterday, the NPR broadcast said the collision occurred “near the D.C., Maryland border.” In addition to being struck by the unnecessary loss of life, and terrible injuries sustained to the victims and their families, as a lawyer, I thought to myself, the location of the train wreck will determine the level of compensation the metro train passengers and their families will be able to receive.

If Maryland were the location of the collision, the injuries would be worth less because of non-economic damages caps in place that artificially limit or cap the amount of money serious injuries are worth. However, in the District of Columbia, there are no caps that limit damages for the injuries themselves — what some people call damages for pain and suffering.

The Metrorail train accident victims and their families will be going through enough difficult times ahead, but fortunately, because the train collision occurred in the District of Columbia — between the Fort Totten and Takoma train stations, one thing they will not have to deal with are the damages caps. Again, there are no damages caps in D.C.

We have written about the damages caps before, and how we believe the caps unfairly harm the most injured victims of accidents. Here is an obvious example: Some train riders have died, some have suffered serious internal injuries, and some have serious orthopedic injuries including fractures, but if this incident had occurred a mile up the Red Line tracks in Montgomery County, the victims would not be able to receive full and fair compensation.

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Federal law requires motor carriers to effectively train its truck drivers and to take steps to ensure that they comply with all federal transportation regulations. Under this group of federal laws, motor carriers are often found responsible for negligently hiring unqualified truck drivers. When the Maryland truck accident attorneys at Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers take on a new case, we always review the motor carrier’s employee orientation and training procedures. Our Maryland truck accident attorneys have found that an adequate hiring procedure is comprised of the following three stages: (1) Recruitment/Pre-Qualifying Interview; (2) Application/Background check; and (3) Driver Orientation.

1. Recruitment / Pre-Qualifying Interview

Many motor carriers actively seek out skilled professional drivers to help man its fleet of trucks. Good motor carriers hire retired truck drivers with good safety records to scout out potential commercial truck drivers. This method allows experienced professional drivers to initially review a potential driver’s knowledge of trucking operations and ability to safely operate a commercial vehicle. After the completion of the pre-qualifying interview, potential drivers are normally invited to begin an application process.

In order to prevail in a lawsuit concerning a Maryland eighteen wheeler accident, an attorney must employ certain special investigatory tactics. Truckers typically create a paper trial that, if followed correctly, may uncover the cause of an accident. A Maryland truck accident attorney’s investigation should pay careful attention to two information sources, the truck involved in the accident, and the truck driver.

1. The physical investigation of the truck

Information within the truck’s cab and engine could be essential in discovering whether the truck driver was at fault for the accident. When a big rig is involved in an accident on one of Maryland’s highways, the truck should be treated as a crime scene. Federal law requires trucking companies to keep a copy of the truck’s maintenance and inspection records in the big rig’s cab. Investigating these records could uncover a company’s failure to properly inspect or maintain the eighteen wheeler, and this failure may be a contributing factor in an accident.

Today, most big rigs carry black boxes in their engine compartments. Similar to airplane flight data recorders, black boxes in big rigs record engine conditions, vehicle speed, and other relevant information. Maryland truck accident attorneys must act quickly to recover the information contained within a truck’s black box. In many cases, a truck’s black box will tell an investigator when the truck driver applied the brakes, the engine RPM, clutch position, and the truck’s speed at the time of the accident.

Information found inside the cabin and sleeping compartment of the big rig involved in an accident may also prove crucial to a truck accident attorney. All truckers carry “trip envelopes” where they record their expenses for reimbursement and tax purposes. These payments tell the story of where a driver traveled preceding an accident, what he ate or drank, and most importantly, how long the driver spent on the road. Trip envelopes can highlight a violation of federal hours of service regulations and provide evidence of a driver’s negligence.

2. Investigation of the truck driver

A truck accident attorney should seek information concerning the driver of an eighteen wheeler involved in an accident in Maryland. A truck driver’s criminal record, driving record, and medical records might reveal evidence of the driver’s ability to operate a commercial vehicle safely.

A truck driver with a criminal history involving drug or alcohol violations will be a red flag to a lawyer. A truck driver’s prior traffic violations may demonstrate a pattern of driving behavior indicative of the driver’s negligence. Prescription medications and their dosage instructions may be another vital piece of information indicating the driver’s sobriety (or lack thereof) at the time of the accident.

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Under perfect road conditions, it takes an attentive and well trained truck driver 96 yards to stop an unloaded eighteen wheeler traveling at 55 miles per hour. Traveling at typical highway speed, 65 miles per hour, the same truck will take 129 yards to come to a stop. Unfortunately, conditions are hardly ever perfect, and truck drivers are not always attentive or well trained, and tractor trailers are often heavily laden with goods. In poor weather, a loaded eighteen wheeler can take over two football fields to stop. Poor weather and road conditions increase the distance necessary to stop a truck and also elevates the risk of death or injury to Maryland drivers.

Because of these considerations, federal law increased the level of care owed by truck drivers in Maryland during inclement weather. Through rain, sleet, snow, or fog, truck drivers must, by law, maintain a higher level of care. Extreme care requires, amongst other things, that large truck drivers reduce their speed and increase the distance between themselves and other drivers on the roads. Additionally, if the hazardous conditions persist, drivers of commercial vehicles must get off the road until the weather or road conditions improve.

Big rig operators in Maryland know what the law requires and many operate their eighteen wheelers professionally and responsibly through poor weather or road conditions. However, federal law and Maryland truck accident attorneys work to punish those who do not. In Maryland, poor weather caused 25% of the fatal eighteen wheeler accidents. Today, trucking companies are able to transmit up-to-date weather information to the truck drivers they dispatch across Maryland and the nation. Many eighteen-wheelers operating with major carriers have computers installed in their cabs to receive messages from their home offices. Maryland law, if not federal law, should require carriers to transmit information on weather and road conditions to their drivers and direct them to leave the highways during extreme weather. The attorneys at Lebowitz and Mzhen believe that this step could save the lives of drivers on Maryland’s highways.

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Plaintiffs in Maryland may recover money damages from a negligent truck driver’s employer based on the legal theory of negligent entrustment. Negligent entrustment allows Maryland accident attorneys to accomplish two objects important to a plaintiff’s personal injury suit. First, this method of recovery allows a plaintiff to avoid the situation where the truck driver does not have sufficient personal assets or insurance coverage to satisfy a potential monetary award. Second, the theory allows plaintiffs to punish careless owners of trucking companies who put Marylanders at risk of serious injury or death caused by negligently operated or maintained trucks.

Under Maryland law, negligent entrustment has three elements that must be demonstrated before the court during trial. First, the plaintiff’s attorney must prove that the trucking company owner was a legal supplier that made the truck available to the driver. Second, the plaintiff must prove that the owner knew or should have known that the truck was in defective condition or that the truck driver, due to inexperience or other factors, was likely to drive the truck in a manner that put others at risk of harm. Finally, an attorney must prove that the injured plaintiff was the type of person the supplier would expect to be endangered by a negligent truck driver.

Maryland courts define a supplier as anyone who has the right to permit and the power to prohibit the use of the truck. If the negligent truck driver’s employer owned the truck, then the owners is legally a supplier who made the truck available to the negligent driver. In a number of cases, Maryland courts have held that truck company owners are legal suppliers if they possess trucks and provide them to drivers that they employ.