An emergency response turned deadly for two members of the Rocky Mount, Virginia (VA), Fire Department on Monday, July 26, when, according to witnesses, their fire truck flipped and landed on a Ford Mustang after being clipped from behind by an SUV and striking a curb. The Ford Escape sports utility vehicle appears to have entered an intersection through which the fire truck was passing before the truck had cleared the area. No charges were filed in the immediate aftermath of the accident.

Only the firefighters lost their lives, but the SUV driver suffered injuries requiring hospital treatment.

The fire truck was loaded with at least 1,000 gallons of water, and that may have contributed to the roll over. Regardless, with all reports indicating that the fire truck had its siren and lights on while proceeding down Route 40, about 20 miles south of Roanoke, the other drivers on the road had to yield to the firefighters.

Firefighters — and police, EMTs and other emergency responders — put their lives on the line every day at accident scenes, fires and disaster sites. They accept that risk on our behalf. Arriving where their services are most needed should be the least of their worries. Unfortunately, as the tragedy in Rocky Mount shows, fire trucks, police cruisers and ambulances face the same hazards as all other cars and trucks. Sometimes those hazards are unsafe road conditions; other times, those hazards are other drivers.

My thoughts go out to the Rocky Mount firefighters, their families and their friends. I hope that all drivers who see the news of this tragedy take it as a lesson to share the road safely with emergency vehicles.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard Eastern Shore Virginia Injury Attorneys Blog and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.

EJL

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis, & Appleton - ”All We Do is Injury Law”

A large portion of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act is dedicated to infrastructure projects like revamping and reconstructing our highway system. But with this increase in highway work projects comes an increased risk of serious injury due to accidents.

Highway work zone accidents have killed roughly 4,700 people — over two a day — and injured 200,000 in the last five years, according to the New York Times. Some people have even described these work zones as death traps. This is because you have construction workers walking around on busy highways where vehicles are cruising by at high speeds. Add to that heavy-duty construction equipment, and you have a volatile combination that could lead to deadly consequences.

One of the major safety hazards associated with highway reconstruction is “pavement drop-offs.” This is basically where portions of the road that are under construction literally drop off due to a lack of pavement. Accidents involving dangerous drop-offs kill roughly 160 people and injure 11,000 each year.

Truck drivers are extremely susceptible to pavement drop-offs and general construction accidents since their range of vision is limited and it takes more time to stop and maneuver around highway construction sites. I’d imagine it’s going to be a real challenge for truckers traveling on Interstate 64 (I64), Interstate 264 (I-264), and other major highways in Virginia (VA) since they’re earmarked for construction.

I understand the need to revamp our highways, but let’s do it in a safe and responsible manner. No amount of construction and renovation is worth a truck driver, pedestrian, or highway worker’s life.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Without heeding the warnings of public health and safety groups, the exemption will potentially lead to increased deaths and injuries, medical costs, road and bridge damage, and domino effect throughout Northeast USA if this big rig provision passes.

The Governor and trucking industry in Vermont have been seeking the same exemptions in their state, and are watching the congressional vote closely with hopes that it will open the door for federal truck weight exemptions to allow overweight trucks up to 100,000 pound trucks to operate in their state and throughout the northeast.  The main area for concern is that national and state trucking interests in other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States will use this

Congressional action as the springboard for seeking a congressional repeal of the federal truck weight exemption in other states and nationwide.

According to Joan Claybrook, chair of Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (C.R.A.S.H.), “This special interest provision was quietly inserted into this federal legislation without any public input and without any public hearings.” Further stating, “This is straight out of the trucking industry’s playbook as they work in the shadows of the Capitol to pick off one state and then another as part of their nationwide strategy to bypass public scrutiny and overrun today’s rules of the road.”

These health and safety advocates brought a letter to members of the U.S. Senate cautioning them that the exemption is only a pretext for permanently raising the weight limit to 100,000 pounds on Maine’s I-95 interstate and then in other states, making that highway even more dangerous.

With CRASH heading up the charge, along with the Truck Safety Coalition, Parents against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.), Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Environment America, Environment Maine, Vermonters for a Clean Environment, the Trauma Society, Consumer Federation of America, and Connecticut Nurses Association, the coalition warned that:

• Bigger trucks lead to more deaths, injuries, and road and bridge damage
• Maine has serious road and bridge safety issues, and that overweight trucks could result in a catastrophic bridge collapse similar to the I-35 bridge tragedy in Minnesota

• The motoring public is unfairly subsidizing heavy trucking as the expense of a balanced and safe transportation system.

Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), with an office also in Elizabeth City, in Northeast North Carolina (NC), practicing primarily in the southeastern U.S. and handles only injury law, including car, truck, railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our Carolina injury law website is: http://carolina.hsinjurylaw.com, the firm edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, as well as the Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard and also hosts a YouTube injury law video library covering many FAQ’s on personal injury subjects. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

BM

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.