Atlanta Truck Accident Attorneys

A recent wreck involving a passenger vehicle and a tractor-trailer injured the driver of the car and his passenger, a child, so severely that both of them left the accident scene by helicopter. The driver of the car was airlifted to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, while the juvenile was flown to Children's Hospital of Georgia. The crash occurred when the driver of a tractor trailer passed a car and tried to move back into the right lane on I-20 West.

Most of us get into our vehicles each and every day and travel to work, to school, to run errands, visit friends and family, pick up and deliver the children to their daily activities and any other activity which requires us to go any significant distance. Unless you live in a city which is fully covered by a mass transit system, then it is very likely that you drive a car on a regular basis, sharing the road not only with other passenger cars, but with big eighteen-wheelers which travel the highways delivering goods.

Atlanta Trucking Accident Lawyers Examine Danger Posed by Overloaded Tractor-Trailers

Because tractor-trailers frequently outweigh a passenger car by 25 times or more, collisions involving large trucks often cause permanent injury or wrongful death. Because of the potential for catastrophic injury and horrific carnage, federal regulations impose maximum weight limits to reduce the number and severity of crashes involving big-rigs. The State of Georgia adopted the federal regulations governing commercial vehicles with a weight of 10,001 pounds or more in 1972. Pursuant to these regulations, tractor-trailers must stop at weigh stations for inspection when traveling on Georgia roadways. In this blog article, our Atlanta trucking accident lawyers examine the threat to public safety posed by overweight tractor-trailers.

Drivers that do not devote their full attention to the road put others with whom they share the roadways at risk, but this risk is never greater than when the vehicle being operated by a distracted driver is an 80,000 pound fully loaded tractor-trailer combination. A prominent Kentucky tractor-trailer accident that was widely reported by the national media provides a compelling example of the life-altering impact of distracted truck drivers. The truck driver crossed into oncoming traffic before colliding head on with a passenger van. Ten vehicle occupants in the van had their joyous caravan to a family wedding instantly turned into a terrible tragedy when they died in the collision, according to NBC News.

Most commercial truck drivers are law-abiding and safe when traveling.  Commercial drivers that operate tractor-trailers may cause horrific trucking accidents when they operate their enormous vehicles while under the influence of alcohol. In order to protect other vehicle occupants, there are strict regulations that pertain to alcohol and drug use by commercial drivers. These rules are designed to keep alcohol-impaired drivers from getting behind the wheel of a big-rig. Nonetheless, both truck drivers and trucking companies sometimes disregard these regulations with tragic results.

The unique character of tractor-trailers makes for unprecedented safety issues for other motorists with whom these extremely long and enormously heavy vehicles share Georgia roadways. While there are many factors that can play a role in a Georgia tractor-trailer collision, there are certain safety factors that are particularly problematic. When a person in a passenger vehicle is involved in a collision with a tractor-trailer, the results will almost always be severe injury for the passenger vehicle occupant. Though tractor-trailers are involved in a disproportionately high number of collisions given how many of these vehicles are on the roadways, virtually all of the collision can be linked to a number of specific safety issues.

Like Georgia, Illinois is a state that sees its fair share of trucking accidents each year, with many of those trucking accidents being fatal. A recent accident involving four trucks and one passenger vehicle tragically left three people dead and many people asking who was to blame for the accident that closed a busy Illinois Highway for hours, according to a local news report. The chain reaction accident occurred southwest of Chicago and two vehicles involved in the accident caught fire. Two occupants of the one passenger vehicle involved lost their lives as well as one occupant of one of the semi-trucks. The cause of this accident is not yet known, and it will certainly be a complicated and lengthy process to investigate fully what went wrong.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has enacted a series of measures to deter commercial truck drivers from multi-tasking while operating a commercial truck. Despite several mobile phone bans involving commercial drivers, distracted driving in other forms continues to be a serious problem. Most commercial drivers are law-abiding, safe drivers, but some struggling with the tediousness of the road may engage in inattentive behavior such as reading, adjusting the stereo and other activities to fight off the monotony of many consecutive hours on the road.

Trucking Accident Lawyers Discuss Legal Drugs as a Leading Cause of Serious Tractor-Trailer Collisions

If a tractor-trailer cruises down the roadway at freeway speeds while outweighing passenger vehicles by more than twenty times, the potential consequences of a collision can be devastating. The danger increases exponentially when commercial trucks are operated by a truck driver whose driving ability is impaired by drugs. The danger is not limited to truck drivers that are impaired by unlawful drugs and prescription narcotics but also over-the-counter (OTC) medications.

Self-Driving Truck Makes History When It Delivers 2,000 Cases of Beer

Otto, Uber's self-driving truck operation, recently completed its first commercial delivery. The self-driving truck traveled about 120 miles on Interstate 25 to Fort Collins, Colorado to deliver 2,000 cases of Budweiser beer. A trained driver was present in the cabin of the vehicle with the ability to take over if needed, but the drive was completed successfully with solely automation. This initial delivery is a symbolic step forwards towards what Uber predicts will be the future of self-driving vehicles and trucks.

Jefferson County Tractor-Trailer Accident Results in Four Fatalities – Is a Dangerous Intersection to Blame?

A collision between a passenger vehicle and a large tractor-trailer tragically killed four family members. This recent accident occurred in Jefferson County at the intersection of Highway 88 and Highway 296, where a tractor-trailer was unable to avoid striking an oncoming passenger car. The tractor-trailer driver stated that the car drove directly into the truck's path. It struck the car and flipped over, resulting in the deaths of four family members sitting in the backseat of the car. Both the driver and front passenger of the car survived as well as the driver of the tractor-trailer.

Gilmer County Tour Bus and Tractor-Trailer Accident Leaves One Man Dead and Others Injured

It is not every day that you see a trucking accident that involves both a tractor-trailer and a tour bus. A recent Gilmer County accident demonstrated that two extremely large vehicles have the potential to do a lot of damage and cause severe and sometimes fatal injuries. As a tour bus was traveling northbound on Whitestone Road in the northern Georgia county of Gilmer, a tractor trailer attempted to make a left-hand turn onto Georgia state road 515. As the truck driver attempted to turn left, he had to stop to allow oncoming traffic to pass before completing his turn. The truck was stationary in the northbound lane of Whitestone Road while it waited for traffic to pass, and was directly in the path of the northbound tour bus.

Georgia Trucking and Car Accident Attorney Discusses the Rise in Traffic Fatalities in Early 2016

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released alarming information that all drivers and passengers should be aware of. While traffic accidents are a daily occurrence across the United States, many of us still feel pretty safe when traveling this country's roadways. However, according to the NHTSA, the number of traffic fatalities increased significantly from January to June of this year as compared to the first six months of 2015. Additionally, 2015 recorded the largest increase in traffic fatalities in 50 years, demonstrating that traffic fatalities are on the rise when they should be on the decline.

Georgia Tractor-Trailer Accident Attorneys Provide More Answers to Important Questions about Trucking Collision Injury Claims

This second installment in our two-part blog post outlines key information for victims of trucking accidents. In this blog series, our attorneys continue to address frequent questions regarding tractor trailer accidents.  If you have been involved in a trucking accident caused by negligence, contact our attorneys for a free consultation as to your rights and options.

Georgia Trucking Accident Lawyers Provide Important Answers Regarding Tractor-Trailer Accidents

Tractor-trailer or commercial trucking accidents are unique among traffic collisions because of the degree of carnage caused and the complexity involved in trucking accident claims. Victims of trucking collisions sometimes assume that these claims, which involve a large vehicle, are more or less akin to any other motor vehicle claim. This mistaken assumption can adversely impact a trucking accident claim. The choice of Georgia trucking accident lawyers is not a decision to be taken lightly particularly because these collisions often result in debilitating life-altering injuries. In this two-part blog, we discuss answers to important questions regarding tractor-trailer crashes and trucking injury claims.

Atlanta Trucking Accident Attorneys Discuss Negligent Selection and Hiring of Drivers as a Basis for Tractor-Trailer Liability

When motorists are involved in a multi-vehicle collision, there is always a risk of severe injury or wrongful death. If one of the vehicles weighs 25 times more than the other vehicle, the consequences can be even more serious for occupants of the smaller vehicle. Given the high risk of catastrophic injury associated with tractor-trailer crashes, injury victims should be aware of the theories that make trucking companies liable for collisions caused by the negligence of truck drivers. Commercial carriers receive legal advice from insurance carriers and attorneys regarding ways to shield themselves from liability for injuries caused by commercial drivers.

Although faulty brakes constitute a factor in only two percent of collisions involving vehicles other than large trucks, brake-related issues constitute a factor in 27 percent of semi-truck crashes according to American Trucking Associations (link downloads PDF report). While there are many vehicle-related issues that can contribute to a tractor-trailer collision, unsafe brakes constitute one of the most dangerous types of vehicle malfunction. In this blog, our Atlanta tractor-trailer accident lawyers examine the role of brake issues in accidents involving large trucks.

Douglas Bader, an Illinois State Trooper, sat in his squad car with the lights flashing when his car was struck by a tractor-trailer, causing his vehicle to burst into flames. Balder had stopped to deal with a big-rig that had stalled in the right traffic lane. Both a bright yellow tollway assistance vehicle and a tow truck also were stopped, making the scene obvious to approaching vehicles. The patrol car flashers were activated, and flares were positioned behind the vehicles. The tollway truck also was positioned behind the vehicles while flashing a large blinking arrow and amber hazard lights. Despite this obvious traffic obstacle on the side of the road, the driver of a flatbed big rig slammed into the patrol car at 63 miles per hour. The investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) subsequently revealed that the truck driver was falling asleep. The gas truck of the patrol car exploded, and Bader suffered severe burns over a third of his body.

Although articles published on this blog often explore attempts by trucking companies and their drivers to cut corners to minimize costs and increase profits, many responsible commercial carriers recognize that big-rig crashes often cause debilitating injuries and fatalities. The person that suffers serious injury in a trucking accident usually will be someone other than the tractor-trailer driver because of the weight disparity between a big-rig and a passenger car. When commercial carriers fail to comply with safety regulations, our trucking accident lawyers remind injury victims that trucking companies can be financially responsible for injuries incurred by crash victims.

Trucking accounts for a large portion of interstate commerce. Consumers rely on truckers to deliver food and commodities that Georgia citizens need every day. Most truck drivers travel the roadways safely.  However, there is a growing concern that truckers are simply not getting enough sleep, which is leading to serious accidents causing injuries and death. Currently, truckers are not supposed to be on duty for more than 14 consecutive hours. During the 14 hour period, they may drive no more than 11 hours at one time without sleeping. Moreover, truckers must have at least 10 consecutive hours of sleep before they can begin their next driving shift.