Virginia (VA) has many long stretches of road where a tired tractor-trailer driver may pull over and rest. This was the case in Indiana (IN) when a semi driver was killed when his truck rear-ended another semi that had been parked on the shoulder. The driver who caused the wreck was wearing a seatbelt but was killed when the cab was crushed upon impact, find out more.

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. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly. 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 a pro bono public information service.

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A tractor-trailer driver is in custody after leading police on a chase up Interstate 81 (I-81) through parts of West Virginia (WV) , Maryland (MD) and Pennsylvania (PA), reports The Times Leader.  The truck with Mississippi plates struck several civilian and police vehicles along the 12-mile Maryland stretch near Hagerstown on Monday morning. 

The driver’s blatant disregard for the safety of others is unfathomable.  It must have looked like something out of a movie- the huge big rig bearing down on cars, speeding across the interstate and causing mass confusion, with police in hot pursuit. 

After a hard day’s work, this is no movie, this is reality.  Accidents caused by cars are bad enough but when a big rig wrecks into a car the injuries can be catastrophic.  Motorists were lucky this time and no major injuries were reported.  Too often, police chases end in horrific car accidents, which may result in serious injury to innocent motorists who were literally in the wrong place and the wrong time.

When a situation like this occurs, you may wonder who is responsible for the damage to vehicles and property, as well as the medical bills that will be generated from the injuries. Does the law enforcement agency whose officers were involved in the chase make compensation, or will the person who was driving the vehicle that was being chased?   The truth is that every case is different-an experienced injury attorney needs to sort it out, and more than one party may have responsibility.

Federal Motor Carrier Regulations require these large commercial trucks, which cross state lines, to carry minimum insurance coverage-including minimum liability coverage. The federal law requires a commercial transportation company to maintain at least seven hundred & fifty thousand dollars ($750,000.00) of insurance coverage on the big rig (commercial vans/busses require higher rates depending on passenger capacities). This is true even for smaller companies which haul freight in interstate commerce.

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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. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly. 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 a pro bono public information service.

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Troopers say the tractor trailer speed was between 65 and 70 mph in the work zone.

“At this point it’s still unclear what the circumstances was, whether it was fatigue or lack of sleep or lack of attention, but it did appear that his attention was caught after striking the second vehicle then subsequently crashed into the tractor and killed the driver,” NC Highway Patrol Trooper Marcus Bethea said.

Investigators say charges are pending at this time.  I hope the police hold the driver responsible and charge him with the fullest extent of the law.  Perhaps then the family will be able to gain some sense of justice. 

But no matter how severe the at-fault driver’s punishment is, it won’t bring the life of a hardworking man back.  A family has been shattered by the death of the mover driver.  This man was at work doing a job he enjoyed.  To make matters worse his son had followed in his father’s footsteps and was in one of the safety vehicles at the time of the crash. He was taken to the hospital for observation of injuries.

This truck wreck is just another example of the devastation that can be caused when large vehicles slam into smaller ones and how important it is that the operators of these vehicles stay alert.

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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. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly. 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 a pro bono public information service.

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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. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly. 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 a pro bono public information service.

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Friday morning while driving to work, you probably think about the upcoming weekend. Some people are thinking about the activities they are planning with their kids. Others think about a Friday night dinner date with friends.
 

Now imagine how different your Friday morning would be if a distracted or careless driver blew through a red light and hit you. All your weekend plans, maybe even life-long plans, gone in a blink of an eye.

It was a frightening and fatal Friday morning for a driver in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). One person died when a tractor-trailer collided with a mini-van at Northampton Boulevard and Burton Station Road, police said.

 
The tractor-trailer, was headed south on Northampton at about 1 a.m. when the driver ran a red light, striking the minivan. The driver of the mini-van died at the scene of the crash.  Police charged the tractor-trailer’s driver with disregarding a red light.

My sincere condolences go out to the family of the victim.  I hope that the family  finds a way to recover and move on. 

 Trucks are significantly heavier than cars. The power, size and weight of a commercial tractor-trailer make the impact of a truck collision much worse and the chance of serious injury and death much higher. The death rate for truck crashes is 50 percent higher than for car accidents, and many injuries may cause life-long disability and permanent or chronic health problems.

Why did the truck run the red light? Was he distracted, tired, on the cell phone?  We still don’t have the full details of what happened since the investigation remains active. But our trucking attorneys have experience with truck accidents just like this and we serve not only the Virginia Beach area, but the entire states of Virginia and North Carolina.

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. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly. 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 a pro bono public information service.

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Although the roads and highways along Virginia’s I-81, I-64 or I-66 have not reported any recent bad tractor trailer accidents, there was one in Springfield, Ohio today. A tractor-trailer jackknifed on icy road conditions and slammed into a van filled with disabled passengers that were being transported. The big rig swerved into oncoming traffic colliding with the van killing four of its occupants and injuring 7 others that were inside as well.

A new device called the “Atlas AJSS” has recently been invented that automatically engages at a speed of 45miles per hour (72km/h) and stays engaged unless manually released. It is actuated electronically and operated pneumatically from the truck’s accumulator air supply. The device prevents the trailer and the truck from becoming over 15 out of alignment with each other. Under normal operating (highway) speeds, this 15 swing does not interfere with driving even on the most winding roads; of course, the system disengages under 45mph to allow for the hair-pin curves of winding mountain roads which are traversed at speeds under 45mph.

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A tractor trailer crash on I-95 just outside of Dunn, North Carolina (N.C.) has tragically left a 6 year old child dead. In a sad chain of events an SUV in which the child was riding collided with an 18 wheeler on a stretch of Interstate 95 in Harnett County, North Carolina (N.C.).

In describing the accident scene, a NC State Highway Patrol spokesperson reported that the big rig was traveling northbound on Interstate 95, near the Pope Road overpass, when the SUV attempted to pass it in the left hand lane. The SUV ended up hitting the guard rail and landed upside down

The child was the sole fatality in the Johnston County I-95 tractor trailer wreck along this particularly deadly stretch of highway. The remaining occupants of the SUV included: the driver, age 34, and three other adults along with two other children. The travelers from Pennsylvania were transported by ambulance to the Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn, North Carolina (N.C.) for injuries. The Johnston County tractor trailer crash on I-95 is still under further investigation. The driver of the big rig was reported to have suffered no injuries.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, twelve percent of all traffic fatalities in the United States involve truck accidents. Tractor trailer truck accidents are especially dangerous. In such truck accidents, an alarming 98% of the time, the passengers or driver in the other vehicle is killed as opposed to people in the truck.

Although tractor trailers are an important part of distribution of goods, they are involved either directly or indirectly almost every day on our highways. The untimely death of such a young child is terribly tragic. Our prayers and heartfelt sympathies go out to the family in their time of grief. It is hard to imagine the scare and shock of the occupants of this passenger vehicle surviving this tragedy.

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.

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By Rick Shapiro

Alger H. Fleming, 66 of Amherst County died after being hit by a tractor trailer along Va. Hwy 56 in Nelson County, Va. Fleming was driving east on Va. 56 at around 4:35 a.m. when he came up on a large tree that had fallen across the road near the Tye River Bridge. Unable to stop Fleming’s Ford Ranger pickup crashed into the tree.

At that point in time Fleming put his hazard lights on and got out of the pickup truck to survey the damage when an eastbound tractor-trailer suddenly came up from behind on the highway. According Virginia State Police PR Manager, Corinne Geller, the tractor-trailer driver swerved into the westbound lane avoiding Fleming’s truck, but then the big rig struck and killed Fleming in the process, Fleming died at the tractor trailer crash scene.

When driving at night your mind can play tricks on you and things can appear very different than they would during the day.  According to the AAA Center of Excellence, more than half of all fatal crashes occur at night. In order to reduce your risk on the night time road, make sure that you are alert and always be prepared to make a  sudden stop when the unpredictable occurs.

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.

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An Albemarle County jury awarded a bereaved family $5.25 million for the loss of their precious 16 year old daughter who had been killed last year when a tractor trailer ran a red light and slamming into the car she was driving. The jury’s verdict was decided with only 3 hours of deliberation following a 2 day trial in the county’s civil circuit court.

In their decision, the jury found that the Don B. Swisher Trucking Corporation in conjunction with the McCann Delivery Service along with the trucker, Kenneth Barbour, were all negligent when the semi tractor trailer ran the red light and took away the young girl’s life that fateful day of May 9^th, 2008. The video below serve as an example of the devastation a truck can have when it slams into much lighter passenger vehicles:

Tractor-Trailer Truck Collision

The truck driver is currently serving an active 2 year prison sentence from his involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving when he pleaded guilty in a criminal trial that was held earlier this year in Albemarle County. The girl’s parents filed a $15 million civil lawsuit against all of the defendants in October 2008 accusing them of negligence and requested punitive damages.

Openly weeping, the victim’s father, mother and brother listened as Circuit Judge Cheryl Higgins read the verdict:  $5.25 million. The family’s attorney mentioned that the family felt vindicated with the judgment. Also, there were no further comments or speculation of seeking possible appeal from the trucking company’s attorney. We would like to congratulate the winning attorney, J Gregory Webb.

The intent of the lawsuit was to inflict as much financial pain as possible to the trucking company responsible for Barbour’s lack of training as a driver as to effectively prevent the company from  continuing their negligent operations or at least force them to change their safety training protocol, if they even had one.  The lawsuit accused Barbour of not slowing down when he approached the northbound lane of the intersection. The victim was making a left turn onto U.S. 29 southbound when the 1999 Chevy Cavalier was struck by the tractor-trailer. The complaint accused Barbour’s employers didn’t train him properly and did not supervise him adequately by allowing him to drive a rig with defective parts.

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.

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