Virginia Trucking Accident Attorney Blog » collision

Trucker Dies in Rear-End Collision on I-81 in Rockbridge County, VA

rshapiro — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:51:09 +0000

By Kevin Duffan, Truck Accident Victim’s Attorney in Virginia

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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Tractor-Trailer Accident in I-95 Work Zone Claims Trucker’s Life

rshapiro — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:48:48 +0000

By Jim Lewis, Trucking Accident Wrongful Death Attorney

Highway workers’ lives were spared because of a “cushion” vehicle parked on the roadway, but the tractor-trailer driver who hit that strategically parked car on the interstate near Lorton, Virginia (VA), wasn’t so lucky. To read the full story on our personal injury lawyers’ website, click over to “Tractor-Trailer Driver Dies After Slamming Into Car in I-95 Work Zone in Virginia.”

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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Condition of Highway Cable Barriers a Concern in North Carolina

rappleton — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 18:57:53 +0000

By Jim Lewis, Carolina Trucking Accident Injury Attorney

My colleague Randy Appleton has posted a new blog on our Carolina injuries website about concerns over the state of cable barriers that are intended to prevent head-on collisions on North Carolina’s highways. A recent investigation found miles of North Carolina’s cable barriers are damaged and loose.

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Fire Chief and Son Injured when Pickup Truck Hits Motorcycle

jlewis — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:27:07 +0000

By Jim Lewis, VA Trucking Injury Attorney

My colleague Emily Mapp Brannon has posted a new blog to our Virginia personal injury lawyers’ website about how the fire chief of the town of Tazewell, VA, and his son were injured in an accident involving a pickup truck that hit their motorcycle. Although they were both airlifted to a local hospital, they survived the injuries they sustained.

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Two-Truck Rear-End Accident in West Virginia

rshapiro — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:11:21 +0000

By John Cooper, Truck Crash Injury Victim Attorney

A tractor-trailer driver somehow managed to walk away after losing control of his vehicle and rear-ending another semi on the West Virginia Turnpike on July 7, 2011. The collision is yet another example of the dangers presented by negligently or unprofessionally driven large commercial trucks, writes my colleague Emily Mapp Brannon in her latest blog post to our personal injury lawyers’ website.

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Crash Involving Pickup Truck Kills Teen in Union County, NC

rappleton — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 12:47:29 +0000

By Randy Appleton, North Carolina Truck Accident Injury Attorney

In his latest post to our Carolina personal injury attorneys’ website, my colleague Rick Shapiro writes about a 19-year-old passenger who lost her life in Union County, NC, when the car she was in was hit by a pickup truck. In this case, the fault does not appear to be that of the pickup truck driver, according to WCNC.com, but of the driver of another car who rear-ended her, pushing her car into the incoming traffic.

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Tractor-Trailer Driver Awarded $23M for Brain Injuries Suffered in Rear-End Collision

rshapiro — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:56:19 +0000

By John Cooper, Virginia Truck Accident Injury Attorney

Ricky L. Jones, a tractor-trailer driver for SUPERVALU grocery stores until a rear-end collision with another large commercial truck in 2007, recently received a $23 million personal injury verdict from a jury in Richmond, Virginia (VA). The panel was the second to hear the case, as the initial jurors could not reach a unanimous opinion over whether Jones was negligent in driving his big rig into the back of the other vehicle.

GPS data entered into evidence showed that the truck Jones hit had recently reentered the highway from the right shoulder and was moving at just 25 mph before being struck. Virginia state laws stipulates that “no person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.”

According to a report published online by Lawyers USA, Jones spent weeks in a medically induced coma, suffered kidney and lung failure and brain and physical injuries — including “a crushed pelvis, the amputation of his right leg … and a crushed left foot” — that required 26 surgeries to repair or relieve. He has also developed mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the wreck.

The $23 million ordered to be paid by Moen Inc. covers, in part, more than $1 million for the medical treatments Jones required and nearly $2 million in past and future lost wages.

The attorneys who represented Jones, Christopher Guedri and Douglas A. Barry, deserve a lot credit for bringing a difficult personal injury case to a just and acceptable conclusion for their client. In addition to shepherding the claim through two trials over several years, the lawyers presented strong evidence from medical, psychological and traffic experts that defense attorneys were unable to refute or discredit.

It is important to note that Jones’ experience also illustrates the danger professional commercial truck drivers face from drivers of other semis, 18-wheelers and flatbeds. In one sad wrongful death case I handled for the victim’s family, a trucker who had been a passenger in the cab of a tractor-trailer that had been involved in a crash on I-81 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, lost his life when another truck ran over him after he had stepped onto the highway shoulder to assess the accident damage. Because truck drivers, by definition, spend so much time on the road in such large vehicles, they have great responsibilities to do all they can to keep themselves and others safe.

EJL

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 in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY, FL and DC. 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 pro bono public information services. Check out our case results to see for yourself. 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 promptly.

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Wrongful Death in Semi Crash Results in $5M Settlement

rshapiro — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:17:03 +0000

By Richard Shapiro, Trucking Accident Injury Lawyer

The widow of an Illinois (IL) attorney killed in a crash caused by a semi driver who failed to stop at an intersection of two state highways has received a $5 million wrongful death settlement from the health care company that owned the big rig and employed the driver. Fellow trucking accident victim’s lawyer, Robert J. Bingle of Chicago, told the News Tribune on February 25, 2011, that the victim “was a loving husband and a great father. He was a tenacious and passionate advocate for his clients and a very active man in his community. He is missed by many people.”

The fatal collision occurred on December 16, 2009, when the OSF St. Francis Healthcare Systems truck rolled through a stop sign and hit the car driven by Richard J. Berry. The truck driver was cited by police for disobeying a signal at a four-way intersection with stop signs at each corner. He may also have been speeding before the crash. Berry died at the scene of the accident.

Semis, tractor-trailers and other large commercial trucks take a long time to come to a complete stop. And, of course, the faster a truck is going, the greater the distance needed to drop its speed to zero. Truck drivers are trained to take these indisputable laws of physics into account when sharing roads and highways with cars and, especially, when approaching red lights, stop signs, turns or unmarked intersections. As the deadly crash in Illinois shows, however, even a single mistake or temporary lack of attention can lead to irreversible tragedy.

As a partner in a law firm whose lawyers have represented hundreds of victims of crashes caused by trucks, I have seen firsthand the devastation big rigs can cause when operated unsafely. My condolences go out to the woman who lost her husband in Illinois. At the same time, I’m glad that the civil suit she filed for the wrongful death ended with some measure of compensation and justice for her irretrievable loss.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm that focuses on injury and accident law, and our attorneys have experience handling truck accident cases. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY, FL and DC. 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 pro bono public information services. Check out our case results to see for yourself. 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 promptly.

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Five Killed, 10 Injured When Tractor-Trailer Slams Into Stopped Cars in NC

rshapiro — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:24:13 +0000

By Rick Shapiro, Truck Accident Injury Lawyer

In the second fatal accident involving a large commercial truck in North Carolina (NC) in less than four days, a tractor-trailer driver “plowed into a line of eight vehicles stopped in the right lane [of I-26]. … Five people were killed and 10 were injured.” The accident occurred on the interstate near the town of Fletcher just before 11 pm on Sunday, February 20.

The semi driver faces multiple manslaughter charges, and several of the injured car drivers and passengers remained hospitalized on Tuesday. The truck driver also appears to have given police a falsified or invalid medical certificate attesting to his physical and mental health and ability to operate a big rig safely.

No cause for the accident in which five people lost their lives and twice that many had their lives changed forever has been reported. The multiple criminal charges do point to the tractor-trailer’s operator being at fault, however. The time of the accident — near midnight — could also suggest that the truck driver had limited vision of the highway or suffered from fatigue.

Semis and 18-wheelers take much longer to stop than smaller vehicles, so it is important that the people behind the wheel of large commercial trucks remain alert and responsive to changes in road conditions and traffic flow that can lead to accidents in which people get killed or hospitalized.

Whatever caused the wreck, as an attorney with a firm whose lawyers have decades of experience representing victims of trucking accidents, I offer my condolences to families and friends of those killed. I also wish the injured parties speedy and full recoveries.

EJL

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Woman Killed by Truck After Slowing Down to Avoid Obstacle in Road

rshapiro — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:21:08 +0000

By Richard Shapiro, Truck Accident Injury Attorney

My colleague Kevin Duffan has posted a new blog about a woman who was killed after she slowed down for an obstruction in the road near Charlotte, North Carolina (NC), and was hit from behind by a truck.

This tragic incident highlights the dangers of slowing down for obstacles in the roadway when heavy trucks are around.

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 is Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses to practice 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.

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