In his latest post to our firm’s Eastern Shore Virginia Injury Attorneys Blog, my colleague Randy Appleton reports on a collision between a semi and smaller commercial truck on Route 13 in Machipongo, VA, that left a box truck driver injured. Randy notes that the box truck driver hit the tractor-trailer after the semi jackknifed, which highlights the dangers truckers create when they lose control of their vehicles. To read more, click over to “Semi Crash on Route 13 in Machipongo Sends Trucker to Hospital With Injuries.”

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia (VA) trucking accident attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have experience handling truck accident cases in Virginia, North Carolina (NC), and other Southeastern states. Check out our case results, which illustrate our track record of success in truck accident personal injury cases. Trucking injury lawyers Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. They have also been named Virginia Super Lawyers since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of outstanding attorneys receive. To learn more about Virginia truck accident injury law, take a look at this free report written by an experienced truck wreck injury attorney in Virginia.

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A long-haul truck driver from Birmingham, Alabama (AL), lost his life in a rear-end collision with another tractor-trailer on I-81 in Rockbridge County, Virginia (VA), early in the evening of January 30, 2012. According to the Roanoke Times, the man ran into the back of a stalled semi in the right-hand lane of the interstate, which was temporarily closed for repairs. The man in the stopped truck was not hurt in the crash near the 197 mile marker just north of Lexington, VA.

View a larger ma of the stretch of I-81 near Lexington, VA, where two semis collided and a trucker lost  his life.

Police have not determined why the one semi was stopped in what would normally be a traffic lane, nor why the deceased trucker was unable to stop or change lanes in time to avoid the fatal crash. Regardless of the circumstance, my fellow Virginia truck accident victims’ attorney colleagues and I send our heartfelt condolences to the friends and family members of the man who lost his life.

Stopping on the highway, even on the shoulder, always creates risks for people in the pulled-over vehicles and everyone passing by. That written, and especially on interstates with posted speed limits of 70 mph or higher, all drivers need to be on the lookout for disabled vehicles. Virginia strengthened its move-over law that requires drivers to slow down or, when safe, change lanes to give space to emergency responders specifically to prevent fatal crashes.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia (VA) trucking accident attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have experience handling truck accident cases in Virginia, North Carolina (NC), and other Southeastern states. Check out our case results, which illustrate our track record of success in truck accident personal injury cases. Trucking injury lawyers Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. They have also been named Virginia Super Lawyers since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of outstanding attorneys receive. To learn more about Virginia truck accident injury law, take a look at this free report written by an experienced truck wreck injury attorney in Virginia.

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A dump truck tire blowout on VA Route 20 just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, on January 16, 2012, sent the truck and a small car being driven nearby careening off the road and into the woods. According to WVIR-TV NBC 29, both the car’s driver and the dump truck operator suffered injuries requiring hospital treatment. Both people were able to return home the same day, but the truck driver had to be cut from the cab of his vehicle.

As a Virginia personal injury attorney whose law firm often represents victims of trucking accidents, I know that the wrecks caused by failing equipment can often be deadly. Both the people involved in the Charlottesville crash can be considered lucky to have not been injured more severely.

At the same time, the trucker and car driver could also have been victimized by a defective tire. Only a full investigation into the crash can reveal whether the tire blew out because it was improperly inflated, allowed to become bald and unbalanced, driven over a puncture hazard or unsafe in design or by manufacture. Whatever the case of the tire failure, there is a cause and either the company owning and operating the dump truck or the tire maker can and should be held liable for injuries resulting from the accident.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia (VA) trucking accident attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have experience handling truck accident cases in Virginia, North Carolina (NC), and other Southeastern states. Check out our case results, which illustrate our track record of success in truck accident personal injury cases. Trucking injury lawyers Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. They have also been named Virginia Super Lawyers since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of outstanding attorneys receive. To learn more about Virginia truck accident injury law, take a look at this free report written by an experienced truck wreck injury attorney in Virginia.

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A Sussex County, Virginia (VA), sheriff’s deputy and the driver of another car wound up hospitalized with serious but not life-threatening injuries on December 7, 2011, when the officer lost control of his cruiser and hit the other vehicle head-on on Virginia Route 40. According to WTVR CBS6 in Richmond, VA, the deputy was rushing to respond to a collision between two tractor-trailers on nearby I-95.
View a larger map of where a Sussex County, VA sheriff’s deputy was involved in a head-on collision

The big rigs had collided when one of the truckers swerved to avoid hitting yet another vehicle, causing injuries to one of the truck’s operators whose semi jackknifed.

I can’t help but imagine the situation playing out like a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster, all squealing brakes and quick cuts to cars and trucks slamming into each in balletic fashion. But as a Virginia personal injury lawyer whose firm regularly helps people injured in crashes involving commercial trucks and head-on collisions, I know there was nothing entertaining or amusing about either of the wrecks.

When large trucks go out of control in real life, the situation often turns deadly. Similarly, any time two cars run into each other head-on, deaths are common. Thankfully, no one lost a life in either of the accidents in Sussex County, but all the injured drivers undoubtedly face large medical treatment costs and long recoveries.

The tractor-trailer driver who caused the interstate accident has been charged with reckless driving. The cause of the crash between the deputy’s cruiser and the car remains under investigation, but if the officer is found to be at fault the other driver could have grounds for filing a civil injury lawsuit.

EJL

About the Editors: The Virginia (VA) trucking accident attorneys at Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton have experience handling truck accident cases in Virginia, North Carolina (NC), and other Southeastern states. Check out our case results, which illustrate our track record of success in truck accident personal injury cases. Trucking injury lawyers Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. They have also been named Virginia Super Lawyers since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of outstanding attorneys receive. To learn more about Virginia truck accident injury law, take a look at this free report written by an experienced truck wreck injury attorney in Virginia.

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The driver of a truck determined to be at fault for an accident that sent as many as 24 Carteret County, North Carolina (NC), students to the hospital with minor injuries  has been charged with failing to yield right of way to the bus transporting the children.

The driver, who lives in Beaufort, NC, hit the school bus on November 8, 2011, at the intersection of Professional Park Drive and Troon Way.

As experienced North Carolina (NC) trucking accident injury attorneys, my colleagues and I see numerous accidents in which school buses are hit by trucks or cars. In February 2011, for instance, we reported on a wreck in Pamlico County, NC, in which a six-wheel box truck hit a bus and injured several students. In the same month in Garner, NC, four children were injured when a garbage truck hit a Wake County school bus.

It seems far too many truck drivers are driving carelessly. We have represented many clients who have been badly hurt or even killed in truck accidents.

In 2010 our firm attained a $3.5 million settlement after a commercial driver in a tractor-trailer rear-ended a passenger vehicle on I-64 in Norfolk, VA . Our client was the child of a passenger who died in the car that caught fire as a result of the collision.

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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Two tanker trucks collided and burst into flames on a freeway near Phoenix, Arizona (AZ) on November 9, 2011, killing one driver. The accident happened when a milk tanker rear-ended a tanker truck carrying about 7,700 gallons of diesel fuel.

The extreme fire caused police in the nearby city of Chandler to order the evacuations of at least two hotels and businesses alongside I-10.

As an experienced Virginia (VA) trucking accident injury attorney my thoughts are with the family of the deceased driver.

When flammable materials are being transported on the highway, there is always a higher risk that the consequences of a wreck will be tragic. That’s what happened in 2008 when a tanker truck went over an embankment near Roanoke, VA, and caught fire. Likewise when a tanker carrying liquid nitrogen rear-ended a car on an I-77 bridge over the Ohio River in West Virginia and sparked a fire that killed three members of a family.

Given the hazardous loads they are carrying drivers of tankers have a high responsibility to drive carefully. If they fail in this responsibility the driver or their employer can face a lawsuit. In 2010 two of my law firm colleagues secured a $3.5 million settlement for the family of a man who was killed in a fiery wreck after his vehicle was rear-ended by a tractor trailer.

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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My colleague John Cooper has written a new blog post or our firm’s Carolina persoal injury lawyers’ website about a truck driver who somehow escaped with just a broken leg after being trapped under an 80,000 pound concrete slab following a chain-reaction truck accident on I-85 in North Carolina (NC).

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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A West Virginia (WV) coal truck driver who drove his vehicle into another truck on Cabin Creek Road near Wealthy Acres in Kanawah County on October 20 has admitted to police he was taking the narcotic painkillers Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone from Reckitt Benckiser) and Oxycotin (oxcodone from Perdue Pharma) before starting his shift. WSAZ NewsChannel 3 reported that the driver who caused the head-on collision has been charged with DUI causing injury, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, driving left of center and reckless driving.

As experienced West Virginia trucking accident attorneys, my colleagues and I see a number of trucking accidents caused by alcohol or drug abuse. Impaired driving is the fourth most common cause of wrecks caused by truckers. Also, a study conducted by a Maryland trauma center revealed that approximately 34 percent of drivers involved in crashes admitted tested positive for only drugs, while just 16 percent tested positive for only alcohol.

This accident in West Virginia illustrates the large number of injuries and deaths caused by coal trucks. In December 2010, for instance, we reported that a coal truck driven in a reckless manner claimed the life of a 19-year-old in West Virginia.

If a truck driver who has taken drugs causes an injury, the trucker’s employer may be liable in a personal injury lawsuit. If you’ve have been injured due to a truck driver’s negligence, there are a number of important steps that need to be taken. We recommend downloading our guide to truck accidents.

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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The 65-year-old driver of a pickup has been killed after his vehicle was hit by a heavy truck in West Virginia. The victim, Garry Smith, from Prichard, WV, was killed on Tolsia Highway/US 52 in Wayne County on the morning of October 6, 2011, WSAZ.com reported.

Investigators said the pickup driver was pulling onto the highway from Centerville Road when the fatal crash occurred. The asphalt truck’s driver had to be cut from the cab by firefighters and was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

As experienced Virginia (VA) trucking injury attorneys, my colleagues and I see far too many fatal and other serious accidents caused by big rigs and tractor-trailers. Often, the truck drivers are to blame.

Fr instance, in July, 2011 we reported on a case in which a tractor-trailer operator caused an accident on I-95 in Woodbridge, VA, in which he hit another big rig and a box truck. The crash was caused when the tractor-trailer driver failed to slow down when coming up to the scene of an earlier accident near the interchange with US Route 1.

Increasing number of Virginians are dying in accidents caused by distracted driving, according to a new study. And when you become distracted driving several tons of potentially dangerous metal, in the case of a truck, the consequences can be deadly.

It’s not unknown for truck drivers to be drunk at the wheel. Recently we reported on a case in Virginia in which three children on a church bus were injured by an intoxicated driver behind the wheel of a 10-ton truck.

We have handled a number of cases involving truck drivers, including a $3.5 million settlement we secured in 2010 for the family of our client who was killed when a driver in a flatbed truck rear-ended a passenger vehicle on I-64 in Norfolk, VA .

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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Road rage is a serious problem on the highways of Virginia (VA). If you deliberately cause an accident you will face the full force of the criminal law and could face a lawsuit. In a blog post to our firm’s Virginia personal injury attorneys’ website, my colleague Emily Mapp Brannon writes about how a pickup truck driver caused an accident in Richmond that left another driver with serious injuries.

DM

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice in NC, South Carolina (SC), West Virginia (WV), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included in the 2011 issue of Best Lawyers in America. They, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper, were also named 2011 Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law, an honor which fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive. Our injury attorneys host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard blogs as pro bono public information services. Check out our case results. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free initial consultations so give us a call at (800) 752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call.

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