Fatigued driving is the cause of many accidents on the roads. When a tired driver is behind the wheel of a heavy commercial truck, the consequences can often be devastating.

As a result Virginia (VA) State Police have set up checkpoints to monitor fatigued driving, WHSV.com reported. Drivers of commercial trucks had to go through special checkpoints in various parts of Virginia as police sought to make sure they weren’t putting lives in danger because of fatigue. Troopers were also inspecting commercial trucks and their drivers to look for safety violations.

An important part of the process entailed checking the log books of the truck drivers to ensure they weren’t going over the time limits they can spend on the road.

Trooper Frank Pyanoe told WHSV drivers might be looking at fatigue differently after a tour bus crash on I-95 in Caroline County, Virginia (VA), last week which killed four and left 54 injured. State police cited driver fatigue as the cause..

“For one, it will raise awareness among the traveling public to avoid fatigued driving when possible, and to share driving responsibilities,” Pyanoe said. “In terms of enforcement, it’s already been stepped up. We’ve always been proactive when it comes to eradicating fatigued and aggressive driving.”

Our Virginia (VA) personal injury attorneys recently noted how fatigue was the cause of 13 percent of semi truck accidents. In March we highlighted how a van driver in Suffolk , Virginia, fell asleep behind the wheel and slammed into a school bus causing injuries to eight students and one adult.

According to a recent survey, as many as 36 percent of drivers in America admit to falling asleep behind the wheel of a car. It may seem obvious, but drivers can safeguard themselves and other road users by taking a break whenever they’re feeling tired and stopping at a rest area or an exit.

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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We’ve all seen chain reaction crashes on the interstate and they usually start when one person loses control and others are unable to stop in time.  This time it wasn’t cars that stacked up like toys, it was tractor-trailers.  The tragic and terrible accident has left one person dead and two other people injured after an accident involving three tractor trailers in Prince George County, Virginia (VA).

Virginia State Police say the accident happened around 4:00 a.m. Saturday on Interstate-295 north near Route 460.  Officials tell 8News a 2007 Freightliner tractor trailer was traveling southbound when the driver ran off the left side of the road, crossing into the northbound lanes, becoming a wrong way driver.

We’re told the driver of that trailer exited his vehicle as a 2000 Kenworth tractor trailer jack-knifed and struck the Freightliner and the driver. The impact of that crash caused both vehicles to run off the roadway.  The Freightliner was carrying rolls of paper which were spillled onto the interstate.

To make matters worse a third tractor-trailer then drove through the wreck and became stuck on the paper.  Tragically, the driver of the Freightliner died at the scene, and their passenger suffered minor injuries and was transported to Southside Regional Medical Center. The driver of the Kenworth suffered serious life-threatening injuries and was transported to VCU Medical Center.  The driver and a passenger in the third truck were not injured.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, but authorities say fog is a factor in the crash.  The standards expected of professional drivers for commercial driver’s licenses both in Virginia and nationally require them to exercise a higher standard of care and be extremely careful when there are visibility problems like during fog or mist.

Most truck drivers, particularly those responsible for big rigs, understand and obey these duties. Our thoughts go out to the families of the dead and injured.  Although we hear about death almost on a daily basis, it is a terrible feeling when someone you know and love ceases to exist.  We have helped many families get through these hard situations, trying to make moving forward as easy as we can by dealing with the insurance companies and legal issues for people hurt by the negligence of others. If you need personal   injury law advice, please contact us.

CA

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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A father and son – Edward Smith, Sr. and Edward Smith, Jr. – were killed when a semi-truck slammed into their Dodge Caravan after the two stopped to help a driver stranded on interstate 81 (I-81) in Wytheville, Virginia (VA).

My deepest condolences go out to the Smith’s friends and family. This is an especially tragic accident considering the father and son stopped on the side of the road to help another driver struggling to travel in the winter weather.

The tractor trailer reportedly swerved to miss the disabled car that was on the road, jackknifed and smacked the Caravan.

Jackknifed tractor trailers, unable to handle the icy roads, caused the biggest problems in Southwest Virginia, according to the Bristol Herald Courier.

“I’d rather drive off a cliff than hit a four-wheeler, cause you know they’ve got families in them, kids inside,” said Joe Soliz, a truck driver. “But when you’ve got 80,000 pounds on your back, pushing you, it’s just hard to stop.”

This is why there are federal regulations specifically dealing with large commercial trucks on roadways during bad weather . Ideally, drivers of commercial trucks like tractor trailers and big rigs would find a place to stop and wait out the storm. Unfortunately, there seem to be many truckers who throw caution to the wind and continue their travels despite icy roads (which could potentially turn to black ice ), high winds and huge amounts of snow.

Truck drivers need to fully analyze the potential consequences of driving in a snowstorm. All of the challenges truckers routinely face (e.g. the sudden movements of other vehicles on the road, poor visibility, etc.) increase exponentially when you add bad winter weather to the mix.

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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