injury from truck accidents Tag Archives

Published on: September 20, 2024

New Bill Would Require SUVs, Trucks to Protect Pedestrians

A new bill that is expected to be introduced soon would require federal standards for the heights of SUVs and pick-up trucks to also consider pedestrian safety. This is an extremely important change which is likely to save lives in auto accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles.

According to Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pennsylvania), who is introducing the new bill, while there is much that is currently being done to protect occupants inside the vehicle, there is much more that can also be done in order to protect vulnerable users like pedestrians and bicyclists who are outside the vehicle when auto accidents occur.

The popularity of pick-up trucks and SUVs has skyrocketed in the past few decades, and these are some of the most in-demand automobiles on the American roads. Unfortunately, while these are very popular vehicles, their presence on our roads also pose a serious danger to motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. Their large sizes and bulk makes it much more likely that occupants of smaller vehicles will suffer serious personal injuries or wrongful deaths when they are involved in an auto accident with these large SUVs and trucks. There is immense danger to pedestrians and other vulnerable users like bicyclists who are involved in auto accidents with these vehicles.

Published on: July 29, 2022

Feds Finalize Rules to Protect Motorists in Underride Truck Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The administration has finalized a rule that is meant to protect motorists and drivers of light passenger vehicles from serious injuries in a truck accident with large commercial trucks for tractor trailers.

A serious underride truck accident can involve devastating personal injuries, including decapitation. In these truck accidents, the motorist may hit the back of the tractor trailer, resulting in the smaller passenger vehicle sliding under the tractor trailer. Head and neck personal injuries are common in such types of truck accidents, and decapitation is not unheard of either.

For years now, passenger safety advocates have called for stricter restrictions on the design of commercial trucks and 18-wheelers that will prevent such truck accidents from taking place. The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced that it has finalized rules that will update the current federal standards for underride protection. As part of the rule, trucks must come with rear impact guards that will absorb the energy of the impact, and prevent motorists from sliding under the tractor trailer.

Published on: June 4, 2022

Feds Record 13% Increase in Trucking Accident Deaths in 2021

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

2021 was a deadly year for truckers and other persons involved in accidents with large commercial trucks and 18-wheelers. The latest data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reflected a 13% increase in the number of deaths in accidents involving large trucks last year, compared to 2020.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its latest traffic crash data for 2021, and the figures are bleak. Overall, traffic fatalities were up by as much as 10.5% from 2020. Interestingly, many of these fatal accidents occurred during the day time and on rural or artery roads. Overall, these were the highest traffic accident death numbers on record since 2005. Many in the industry and in the federal administration believe that these rates are at “crisis levels”.

The news on the trucking safety front was not much better. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration considered any commercial truck weighing at or above 10,000 pounds as a large truck for the purposes of data collection. The figures included not just smaller trucks, but also non-commercial trucks. There were a total of 5,601 deaths involving truck accidents in 2021, compared to a total of 4,965 accident deaths the previous year, a significant 13 percent increase. Increases in deaths in crashes involving at least one truck were recorded in all months, except January, February and October of last year.

Published on: July 6, 2021

Proposals to Lower Truck Driver Age Could Lead to Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The trucking industry and other related parties are promoting a bill that would reduce the minimum age for commercial truck drivers to operate in the United States. There are risks that a proposal like this, if rushed into, could possibly increase the risk of accidents involving tractor- trailers and semi rigs.

Trucking activity across the metro Atlanta region has spiked since last year, when there was a surge in the volume of online deliveries and shipping needs. While the trucking industry serves a vital function, having more numbers of trucks on our highways will only increase the risks of commercial truck accidents.

The trucking industry says that a shortage of licensed drivers is a major challenge currently facing the sector. To deal with this shortage, the industry is calling for the minimum truck driver age, which currently stands at 20, to be lowered to 18, to drive a truck as part of interstate commerce. The DRIVE Safe Act, is currently pending in Congress and is aimed at allowing interstate driving for commercial truck drivers between 18 and 21.

Published on: August 7, 2019

Can I Recover Damages for PTSD After a Truck Accident?

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The term “PTSD” or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is typically associated with veterans returning from combat duty. However, the vast majority of Americans who suffer from PTSD attribute the symptoms to non-combat causes. In fact, statistics indicate that as many as a quarter of all Americans have experienced some degree of PTSD after a car or truck accident.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a condition that typically arises after a person has been involved in a frightening or life-threatening situations such as catastrophic car and truck accidents, train accidents, plane crashes, or natural disasters. Being involved in any of these can trigger PTSD. Victims of robberies, rapes, shootings or other crimes may also suffer from mental trauma that can severely impede their ability to lead a normal life.

Truck accidents are very common in the Atlanta and North Georgia area. We see them all the time on the highways. These accidents are typically devastating and very serious. They often involve loss of life, and are very likely to cause serious injuries to the occupants of the smaller vehicle. All of these factors combined can cause serious mental or emotional trauma which can manifest itself in symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Talk to an Atlanta truck accident attorney about claiming damages after a big-rig accident to see how you can recover in a claim for emotional distress.

Published on: March 18, 2013

Truck Underride Guards May Not Protect Against Accident Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The angle of a passenger vehicle that is involved in a rear ender accident with a tractor-trailer could mean the difference between life and death for the occupants of the vehicle.This is because the underride guards that are located at the back of the tractor-trailer to protect the occupants of the passenger vehicle from serious injuries when it hits a truck don’t perform so well in many situations.

The study was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found that the underride guards located on the back of tractor-trailers, don’t always perform as well as expected in reducing the risk to passenger car occupants.

In some situations, these underride guards did a fairly good job.In the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study, the researchers found that when the full width of the car hit the center of the trailer, the underride guards in all trucks prevented the front portion of the passenger vehicle from sliding under the tractor-trailer.A situation like this can mean almost instantaneous death for the occupants of a passenger vehicle, who may suffer serious head or neck injuries, or even decapitation.

Published on: December 14, 2011

Woman, Children Injured in Georgia Truck Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Four people, including a woman and three children were injured in a truck accident in Loganville, Georgia.The accident occurred on Friday when a tractor-trailer crashed into an SUV. According to police, the truck accident occurred at an intersection when the tractor-trailer struck the SUV in the left rear quarter panel.Witnesses at the scene have confirmed to police that the SUV driver had the green light.Police have charged the tractor-trailer driver with failure to obey a traffic control device.The female driver of the SUV has also been charged with failure to restrain a child.Her three children were in the car, an eleven-year-old, a ten-year-old and fourteen-year-old, were taken to a hospital.

Failure to obey traffic laws is important for any motorist, but these failures can be critical and can have devastating effects when they involve tractor-trailer drivers.Drivers of these massive commercial trucks are at a high risk of causing an accident when they run red lights, tailgate or break other traffic rules.The risk to motorists in the vicinity of a truck is high because drivers of smaller vehicles involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer are at a much higher risk of being injured.As truck accident attorneys know, an overwhelming majority of accidents that involve a tractor-trailer and a smaller passenger vehicle end with serious personal injury or wrongful death of the occupants of the smaller vehicle.

Those are frightening odds for any motorist to beat, and tractor-trailer drivers must always keep that fact in mind.Further, tractor-trailer drivers must avoid dangerous behaviors like speeding or distracted driving.Speeding is believed to be the number one factor in commercial truck accidents in the United States, contributing to more accidents every year than drunk driving or distracted driving.Driving at speeds beyond the posted limits for commercial trucks, or at speeds that are inappropriate for current traffic, weather conditions, can lead to devastating accidents.

Published on: October 24, 2011

Increased Truck Weight Limits in Georgia Could Increase Risk of Serious Injuries in Truck Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As more and more states in the country begin to experiment with increasing weight limits for trucks in order to improve trucking efficiency, trucking companies, truck safety groups and Atlanta truck accident attorneys are watching these developments with interest.From a safety point of view, there is nothing to recommend an increase in truck weight limits, no matter how much these increase efficiency. Truck accidents are some of the most dangerous and deadly accidents on our roadways. A significant portion of these accidents result in serious personal injury and wrongful death.

Several states have authorized higher truck weight limits, allowing an increase on the weight of 18- wheelers from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds.Congress is also debating such increases in weight limits.Unfortunately, during a recession, calls for increases on truck weight limits have grown louder, because of the potential benefits to the trucking industry.

According to advocates for an increase in truck weight limits, such an increase will increase efficiency and productivity, lowering the number of trips needed for transportation of cargo.According to them, higher truck weight limits may also lead to lower strain and wear and tear on highways, and reduced maintenance and repair expenses.However, the number one factor behind the trucking industry’s support of increased truck weight limits is the fact that these are expected to save the trucking industry billions of dollars every year.

Published on: May 7, 2011

More Atlanta Truck Drivers Buckle up To Prevent Injuries in Truck Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Seatbelts save lives, and as new estimates indicate, the number of commercial truck drivers choosing to buckle up to prevent serious injuries or deaths in truck accidents, has increased.According to a study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the number of commercial truck drivers wearing seat belts has increased substantially in 2010.As an Atlanta injury lawyer, I have represented a number of truck drivers involved in accidents with other truck drivers. I have consistently found that the truck drivers who have been in their seatbelts sustained far less serious injuries than the truckers who were not wearing seatbelts.

Seatbelt usage among commercial truck drivers increased to 78% in 2010 from 74% the previous year.That is the fourth consecutive annual increase in seat belt usage in this section of the population.According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, approximately 80% of commercial truck drivers in states that have primary seat belt laws wore seatbelts.However, in states which do not have primary seat belt laws, the seat belt usage rate among commercial truck drivers dropped to only 72%.

The FMCSA is also reporting an increase in seat belt usage rates among both commercial truck and bus drivers in 2010.Those rates were 78% in 2010, compared to just 65% in 2007.

Published on: January 14, 2011

Police Officer Injured in Atlanta, Georgia Truck Accident

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A truck driver has been charged after being involved in a truck accident in Clayton County, Georgiain which a police officer was injured. The trucker had been driving a massive tractor-trailer rig, when he rear-ended a patrol car in front of him. The police officer was driving the Department of Transportation truck on the road when the truck accident occurred. The officer suffered serious injuries, and had to be airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital. The tractor-trailer driver meanwhile has been charged with causing serious injury by vehicle, following too closely and too fast.

One of the challenges of operating a massive truck is understanding that your vehicle takes a much longer time to come to a complete stop than a passenger vehicle. It’s important for all 18-wheeler drivers to understand that this greatly increased stopping distance amplifies the risks of colliding with a vehicle in front.

Any time a passenger vehicle is involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer, injuries sustained can be extremely series. A typical rear ender accident involving two passenger vehicles can cause whiplash and other injuries. However, when you have a massive 18-wheeler weighing more than 80,000 pounds rear ending a passenger vehicle, the kind of injuries that the passenger car occupants suffer can be devastating.