Trucking Accident

A trucking accident involving two tractor-trailers on Interstate 95 recently closed two lanes of the busy highway and claimed the life of one of the truck drivers. Florida Highway Patrol officers say the accident occurred around 5 a.m. at mile marker 189 south of the I-95 exchange with Wickham Road. Emergency responders from Brevard County Fire Rescue said one truck was hauling PVC piping and the other was carrying general merchandise when the driver of the truck carrying the PVC rear-ended the other truck, causing more than 70 gallons of diesel fuel to spill onto the road.

FHP spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said that the diesel spill made the clean-up especially dangerous and problematic.

“That diesel eats the roadway up,” she said. “We can’t let people drive on that. They had to fix the road before they could.”

Road workers had to mill the road where the fuel spilled and then repave it before traffic could be restored on two of three lanes of I-95.

Montes said that the 57-year-old driver of the truck carrying general merchandise was following traffic too closely at the time of the accident. When his truck rear-ended the truck hauling PVC in front of him, the PVC piping was driven through the driver’s cab, killing him instantly.

“They were just traveling along,” Montes said. “(Daniels) was simply going faster than the other truck and ran right into the back of it.”

The 48-year-old driver of the other truck suffered minor injuries in the crash and was not hospitalized. FHP troopers said that they did not believe alcohol or drugs were contributing factors in the accident.

This trucking accident is very unusual in that two trucks were involved and that one of the drivers was killed. The overwhelming majority of trucking accidents involve tractor-trailers and much smaller passenger vehicles, and, in most cases, it is the occupants of the smaller vehicles who suffer catastrophic, even fatal, injuries. If you or a member of your immediate family has been injured in a Florida trucking accident and you have questions about your rights and legal options, call Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham today at 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000. Mr. Cunningham is an Orlando personal injury attorney with a reputation for working hard and helping clients receive the maximum allowable compensation.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency that enforces compliance with trucking regulations, has proposed lowering the hours a truck driver can spend behind the wheel before taking a break in an effort to reduce trucking accidents in the U.S. The FMCSA would like to reduce driving time from 11 hours in each 14-hour shift to 10 hours. The proposed changes would also mandate that drivers take more time off from work between seven-day stretches of working and require drivers to take a one-hour break from long shifts, including time spent loading and unloading freight. The agency expects to issue a ruling on the proposed changes by October 28. Trucking companies are strongly opposed to the changes, saying that the new rules would increase their costs of doing business.

Last year, the agency took other steps to make roadways safer and reduce trucking accidents, including a rule that will go into effect in 2012 that will require long-haul truckers who routinely violate driving limits to install electronic log devices instead of the traditional paper driver’s log books. Trucking companies oppose an even stricter version of this rule that would make electronic log books mandatory in all big rigs whether a driver has a history of violating driving limits or not. The new round of safety measures is the biggest since 2004, when a major overhaul of trucking laws took place. The new laws reduced the number of fatal truck accidents, and agency officials hope the proposed changes will reduce deadly truck accidents even more.

Here in Florida, 179 people were killed in trucking accidents in 2009. Passenger vehicles weighing only a few thousand pounds are no match for a fully loaded 18-wheeler weighing up to 80,000 pounds. If a truck driver gets drowsy from spending too many hours behind the wheel without taking a break, his or her chances of causing a deadly accident go up significantly.

If you or a close family member has been injured in a trucking accident caused by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel and/or falsified a driver’s log, the driver and the trucking company may be liable for damages. If you have questions, call Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham today at 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000 to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case. Mr. Cunningham has been helping injured people since 1977 and helps each client achieve the best possible outcome for his or her case. Before you sign any documents that you do not fully understand, have your Orlando personal injury lawyer read them first!

This article from ABC Action News reports that one lane of Interstate 275 had to be closed for more than a day after a cement truck overturned and spilled cement all over the roadway. The Florida trucking accident occurred near the Pinellas Bayway and left a hole in the on-ramp to Interstate 275 from the Pinellas Bayway that was 28 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 8 inches deep.
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An accident involving a semi truck and a van at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 75 in Columbia County resulted in two people sent to the hospital with injuries. A 15-year-old girl from Alabama, transported to Shands at the University of Florida, sustained injuries described as serious. The 42-year-old driver of the 1999 Dodge van, also from Alabama, received medical treatment for undisclosed minor injuries at Lake City Medical. The 43-year-old driver of the 2000 Freightliner semi truck involved in the accident was reportedly unhurt.

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An article published in the Orlando Sentinel describes a chain reaction accident that occurred in July 2009 when a semi truck’s improperly secured cargo caused cars to collide while drivers attempted to avoid the debris. Among the more unusual aspects of the accident was a car bumper with a 15-inch kitchen knife embedded in it that was part of the truck’s cargo. According to law enforcement officials investigating the car accidents, the chain reaction crash occurred on S.R. 520 near Bellevue Way.

Washington State Troopers said the accident began when a semi truck traveling westbound began losing its cargo and caused the chain reaction accident when cars, trucks and at least one motorcycle tried to avoid hitting the debris flying out of the back of the truck.

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