Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

Last month in a horrific accident out of Kentucky, a couple driving a Ford Focus was pinned underneath a semi-truck after getting into an accident with the truck and being crushed against a cement barrier. According to a report by ABC News, the accident happened on I-75 in Boone County.

When emergency crews arrived the wreckage was bad. One emergency worker noted that, upon arriving on the scene, “You couldn’t even tell what kind of car it was.” The door of the car had to be cut off in order for emergency crews to extricate the couple.

Miraculously, no one was fatally injured. The couple was life-flighted to the nearest hospital with non-life-threatening injuries; one occupant suffered a broken arm and the other a gash to the head. The driver of the semi-truck was uninjured.

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Earlier this week, a truck driver from Pennsylvania was fatally injured when his truck drove off I-70 just before 11 p.m. According to a report by the local CBS affiliate, the driver was heading eastbound on I-70, just east of Monument Road, when the 44-year-old driver inexplicably lost control of the vehicle, sending it off the side of the highway.

As the vehicle careened off the road, it rolled over, trapping the driver inside the cabin. By the time emergency medical personnel arrived and flipped the truck right-side up with a heavy duty tow truck, it was too late. The driver was pronounced dead on the scene.When Trucks Lose Control, Chaos Often Ensues

Despite the tragic nature of this accident, it could have been much worse. Often times, when a semi truck or tractor trailer loses control other cars are nearby and can easily become collateral damage. For this reason exactly, interstate truck drivers are heavily regulated by both state and federal government agencies.

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In trucking accident cases, the usual discussions regarding evidence gathering involve accident reconstruction, calculations of speed based on objective measures, and other aspects related to an auto collision. Sometimes, however, injuriess caused in truck accidents can be the result of falling objects or other events.

In one such case, recently decided in a Maryland federal court, Heckman v. RYDER TRUCK RENTAL, INC., Dist. Ct., D. Md. (2013), the plaintiff filed suit against a truck rental company and maker of the truck, when a door strap attached to one of the trucks broke, causing him personal injury.

In the course of discovery, the process of gathering evidence in preparation for trial, the plaintiff filed a motion requesting that the defendant provide him with additional door straps in order to test them, and this opinion dealt with the court’s ruling on the request.

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Four people were injured in Anne Arundel County this week, following a three vehicle collision involving an overturned tractor trailer Thursday evening on Route 50 in Parole.

The accident occurred on Route 50 eastbound near I-97 North. Police stated that when they arrived at the scene, they discovered that an 18-wheeler tractor trailer had rolled over, and two other vehicles were involved in the collision.

One 40 year old man was transported to Shock Trauma for treatment of his life threatening injuries. Two other individuals were transported to local hospitals for treatment of their non life threatening injuries. A fourth patient was also transported to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries. The circumstances surrounding the collision were unclear at the time the information was reported. Authorities are likely continuing an investigation into the collision.

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Earlier this week, two State Troopers in Indiana were lucky to walk away from a serious accident, when a semi truck suddenly landed on top of their patrol car.

In the early afternoon, two troopers were driving on the interstate, when the passenger noticed that the semi had begun to veer into their lane. After moving closer to the semi, he noticed that the driver had his head down. He then told the other trooper, who was driving, that he thought the semi driver was asleep, and that he was about to hit them.

The truck hit the patrol car’s back tires, which pushed them into the concrete barrier, which it then bounced off of, throwing both cars back into the lanes of traffic. The car was essentially dragged, and remained pinned under the truck. Miraculously, both troopers were able to extricate themselves from the vehicle. They reported that some good samaritans pulled the truck driver from his cab.

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According to officials, late last month, a tractor-trailer carrying a load of corn oil to a farm in Maryland crashed into a bridge over the Conestoga River in Pennsylvania, resulting in a small spill of motor oil into the waterway.

The accident happened mid morning on Route 741. While facts surrounding the collision itself are sparse, it has been reported that the truck driver somehow crashed into the bridge in a single vehicle collision. The driver had to be removed from the truck by emergency crews, who additionally began providing treatment, as the driver drifted in and out of consciousness. The extent of the driver’s injuries were not reported.

The impact from the collision caused the truck’s engine block to leak approximately eight gallons of motor oil onto the roadway, which firefighters, and later a hazmat crew worked to clean up. Surprisingly, the truck’s tank, which was carrying corn oil for a Maryland Farm, was intact following the accident.

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A seven mile traffic slowdown was the result of a huge tractor-trailer fire that happened following a collision near the exit to Route 1 by the I-95 merge with the inner loop late last month.

Police reported that the collision was caused as a result of another car somehow entering the tractor-trailer’s path, causing the truck to crash into an unattended car. The tractor-trailer then caught fire almost immediately, as did the disabled car.

Firefighters reportedly struggled for three hours to completely extinguish the flames. The fire completely decimated the tractor-trailer, with its cargo, cardboard, and wooden palettes, apparently having served as fuel for the fire. The unattended vehicle also suffered substantial damage as a result of the fire. Miraculously, the driver of the truck was not injured, and there were no other reported injuries.

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A Maryland woman narrowly escaped tragedy when her car was struck by a tractor-trailer, and forced off of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge last Friday.

Maryland Transportation Authority police reported that a young woman was driving a 2007 Chrysler Sebring which was hit by a tractor-trailer and knocked into the bay 40 feet below. Police said the car ended up in about 8 feet of water. The woman managed to escape the submerged vehicle and swim to safety. After she reached safety, the woman was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma for treatment, and was released the following day.

Three vehicles were reportedly involved in the collision. According to reports, the driver of the truck and the individuals in the third vehicle were not injured.

The company for whom the driver was working at the time of the accident later released a statement, stating that they were glad to hear that no serious injuries occurred as a result of the crash, and that they intend to cooperate fully with Maryland State and U.S. Transportation authorities as they conduct their usual investigations.

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Earlier this week, at around 3:25 in the afternoon, a serious collision occurred at the 1 mile marker on Interstate 81 near the Maryland-West Virginia state line, resulting in traffic delays.

According to the Maryland State Police, a car was traveling southbound and suddenly lost control for an unknown reason, striking the center guardrail before coming back across both lanes and hitting a Mack truck.

The driver of the car was flown to the Shock Trauma Center for treatment by helicopter. The driver of the Mack Truck and his passenger were transported to a local medical center by ambulance.

The southbound lanes of Interstate 81 were shut down for a period of time in order for the helicopter to be able to land. One lane remained closed for two more hours as the investigation of the accident continued. The incident remains under investigation, and charges are reportedly pending.

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An accident that occurred late last month involving a tractor-trailer led to a fuel spill and two additional accidents, and consequently accompanied road closures in Frederick, causing some major traffic delays.

According to Maryland State Police, the crash occurred on the ramp from westbound I-70 to westbound Route 15/340 at around 2:30 a.m., when the driver of the tractor-trailer lost control of the vehicle.

The tractor-trailer then careened off of the roadway, striking and displacing a 100 foot stretch of guardrail, before finally coming to a stop after colliding with a concrete bridge abutment above Route 351. The collision with the structure caused debris to fall into the roadway, resulting in two additional collisions on Route 351 itself.

A police spokesperson said that the impact of the crash damaged the tractor-trailer’s fuel saddle tanks, causing gallons of diesel fuel to spill onto the ramp and also onto Route 351.

No information was readily available regarding injuries to the drivers of the tractor-trailer or any of the other vehicles involved in the collisions on Route 351. The cause of the driver losing control, and other circumstances surrounding the crash, remain under investigation.

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