Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

A massive Georgia semi accident on I-95 Thursday morning resulted when the tractor-trailer plowed into a line of stopped vehicles and was a disaster waiting to happen, Port Wentworth officials told the Savannah Morning News.

A Port Wentworth captain said the area's growth has led to congestion around Ga. exit 21, which has turned northbound I-95 into a parking lot. Rescue workers responded shortly before 6 p.m. after reports that a tractor trailer had compacted a small pickup after ramming it from behind. The semi pushed the little truck into a larger one, before shoving it into the woods. A Honda CRV was also sent spinning toward the median.

The 41-year-old Statesboro woman driving the small pickup was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Georgia Highway Patrol.

Investigators say the semi crested a hill at 65 mph to find traffic at a dead stop.

Even under the best of circumstances, the extreme weight of many large commercial trucks means they often require much more room to stop than a typical passenger vehicle. That same weight can be devastating in the event of an accident with a passenger car. In this case, an Atlanta injury lawyer will also look at the road design, to see whether state or local officials should have made changes -- something as simple as a caution sign before the hill crest may have helped prevent such a tragedy.

Regardless, it is incumbent upon the truck driver to maintain assured clear distance ahead. This is one of several recent high-profile tragedies to occur nationwide involving trucks that plowed into stopped traffic.

-Just last weekend, a trucking accident in North Carolina killed five people after a semi plowed into a group of cars stopped for a dump truck accident on I-26. WHKP reported. The trucker faces multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter.

-Earlier this year, what is being called the worst motorcycle accident in Arizona history -- and one of the worst ever to occur nationwide -- happened when a dump truck plowed into eight motorcycles stopped at a red light, Clutch & Chrome reported.

Four of the riders were killed and five others were seriously injured. Some of the riders were dragged more than 50 yards on their motorcycles. Some of the motorcycles burst into flames and three of the riders were still trapped beneath the sanitation dump truck when it finally stopped.

Continue reading " Fatal Georgia trucking accident blamed on congestion; semi slams into stopped traffic near Port Wentworth " »

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that all motor carriers systematically inspect, repair, and maintain all motor vehicles subject to their control.

These inspections include inspections by the motor carrier, and driver inspections of their vehicles both before operation and at the end of each work day.

Among the items required to be inspected are brakes, steering, lights, tires, horns, wipers, mirrors, wheels, and emergency equipment.

Our Atlanta based trucking attorneys have seen many tragic collisions occasioned by the lack of properly operating safety equipment on large trucks and buses. In many of these cases we have been able to show that the required inspections were not implemented and/or that the required documents evidencing the inspections were falsified.

While many motor carriers take their safety responsibilities seriously, there are far too many willing to forgo the required safety inspections, putting profits before safety of the motoring public.

Several of the pertinent regulations are below.

Continue reading " Driver Vehicle Inspections " »

As part of Teen Safe Driving Week (Oct. 17-24) our Georgia trucking accident lawyers urge parents to take a moment to specifically speak with their young drivers about safe driving around commercial trucks, semis, buses and other large vehicles on the road.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also encouraging you to talk with your teenager about other poor driving decisions, including drunk driving, distracted driving, and failure to wear seat belts.

There may be no worse combination on the road than teens and large truck. Teenagers are involved in about 1 in 8 fatal crashes while large commercial trucks are involved in 1 in 9 deadly accidents on the road.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that car accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers ages 15 to 20. In 2008, more than 6,400 motorists were killed in accident involving teenagers. Fatal Georgia car accidents involving teenagers claimed 233 lives that year.

CBS Atlanta reports that lawmakers are again debating the need to toughen teen driving laws after a 17-year-old driving a speeding Porsche slammed into a vehicle carrying the daughter and granddaughter of Roy Barnes, the Democratic candidate for governor. As if this is a new issue they are hearing about for the first time.

Meanwhile, 380,000 large trucking accidents killed 4,229 motorists and injured more than 90,000.

A study released for Teen Safe Driving Week by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that parents need to do a better job of helping teenagers learn how to handle challenging driving situations, including driving in heavy traffic and bad weather. We would put driving around semis squarely into that category. The extreme weight of a semi makes it unlikely a teenager will survive a serious accident. Their length makes passing them a challenge. And their height makes seeing around them difficult even in the best of circumstances.

The following safety tips are adapted from information provided by Road Safe America, an organization founded by parents who lost a child in an accident with a large commercial truck:

-Use extra caution when approaching a large truck on the road.

-Stay out of a truck's blink spots. If you cannot see a driver's side mirrors, he cannot see you. One-third of all accidents involving semis occur in blind spots.

-Do not attempt to pass a truck on the right when it is turning right. A truck must swing wide to the left to safely make a right-hand turn.

-Do NOT try to cut in front of any large vehicle. They require far longer to stop. And survival in such collision is unlikely for motorists in a passenger vehicle.

-When passing a large truck or bus on the highway, use proper form. Accelerate smoothly and maintain consistent speed while passing. Wait until you can see the entire cab in your rearview mirror before merging back in front of a truck.

-Observe a truck driver's turn signals.

-Give trucks at least 4 to 6 seconds of space.

-Notify authorities of unsafe driving.

-Do not try to cut a truck off to make your highway exit or turn

Continue reading " Parents can help teenagers avoid Georgia trucking accidents by talking about dangers during Teen Safe Driving Week " »

A trucker is out of a job after a Georgia trucking accident in which he clipped a Georgia deputy sheriff's vehicle in Coweta County, as well as the vehicle the sheriff had stopped for speeding, according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

The 36-year-old driver had been employed by Bluefield Transport for about a year but was fired after the Wednesday incident, which occurred on I-85 two miles south of the Moreland exit. The deputy was on the passenger side of the stopped vehicle and was in the process of collecting information from the driver when the rig reportedly sideswiped both vehicles. Other deputies followed his truck to a nearby truck stop and detained him until the Georgia State Patrol could arrive.

This video from Fox 5 Atlanta shows the crash.

The trucker was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs; a search of his truck found several prescription medications on the floorboards. As we have reported on our Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog, truck drivers are unfortunately permitted to consume many types of narcotic pain medication that would be refused to airline pilots on the job. Thankfully, this driver was taken off the road on a driving under the influence charge before someone was killed.

The company said the driver had passed his previous drug screens, which were performed by the company, as well as drug screening required by the federal Department of Transportation.

Continue reading " Trucker charged with DUI after Georgia semi accident involving deputy sheriff " »

A 48-year-old trucker was killed in a Georgia tractor-trailer accident when his tanker truck flipped over on U.S. 27, the Rome News-Tribune reported.

The Lincoln, Alabama man died Tuesday in the single-vehicle accident just inside the Polk County line. He was traveling northbound on U.S. 27 when his truck left the highway, traveled 400 feet through brush, and finally overturned, scattering ash along the pavement, according to the Georgia Highway Patrol.

Police arrive on the scene shortly before 8:20 a.m. There were no skid marks on the highway to indicate that the driver had ever applied the brakes. Police believe he could have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Thankfully, no motorists were involved in this crash. As our Georgia trucking accident lawyers frequently report, innocent motorists are most often injured or killed in accidents with large commercial trucks. In 2008, one out of nine fatal traffic accidents on the nation's roads involved large trucks. A total of 380,000 large trucks were involved in accidents, killing 4,229 people and injuring more than 90,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of those killed, 3,139 were occupants of other vehicles and 413 were non-occupants, such as bicyclists or pedestrians.

A study by the Stanford University School of Medicine found that 78 percent of 159 commercial long-haul truck drivers studied had sleep apnea, a fatigue-causing sleep disorder.

"When 78 percent of the people coming toward you on the road in 40-ton trucks have such a disorder, you have a problem," says psychiatrist William Dement, director of the Sleep Research Centre and senior author of the study.

As far back as 1997, safety advocates have pushed for trucks to be equipped with data recorders to keep track of driving hours and ensure that truckers are not violating laws governing how many hours a day they can drive and how many hours a week they can remain behind the wheel. Those laws are in place to protect the public but compliance, when it is checked at all, relies upon a drivers hand-written log book.

Cost of installing the computers would be less than $1,000 per truck, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Continue reading " Sleeping trucker may have caused fatal Georgia trucking accident " »