truck accident

Published on: July 24, 2009

Truck Accidents in Crisp County, Savannah Leave Trail of Injuries

Truck Accidents in Crisp County, Savannah Leave Trail of Injuries

Two separate accidents in Savannah and Crisp County, both involving pickup trucks and 18 wheelers, have left one person dead and three critically injured.

In the first accident, a 66-year-old woman suffered critical injuries when her Chevy turned in front of a big rig. According to troopers, Ora Lee Morris was not wearing a seatbelt, and was ejected from the truck on impact. She was trapped underneath the truck.There is no information about why Morris turned her pickup right in front of the big rig.

Published on: April 27, 2009

Tractor Trailer-Tanker Truck Accident in Coweta County Ends in Blaze

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Interstate 85 in Coweta County has been an accident magnet for the past several weeks because of the construction work going on there in both northbound and southbound lanes. Several truck accidents have been reported. The construction work has meant that traffic rules are being broken at random. Truck drivers and motorists, highway authorities complain, are not sticking to the reduced speed limits now posted in the zone. It’s not just traffic police and highway officials who are concerned about the several accidents that have taken place, but also construction workers hard at work on the road.

In an example of what highway authorities are so concerned about, a tractor trailer and a tanker truck collided at the construction zone , resulting in an explosion and fire at the scene. The wheels of the tractor trailer apparently slid off the edge of the payment, and the driver, in a panic, overcorrected, colliding with a tanker nearby. The tanker truck was pushed into a construction barrier wall that had been erected to protect workers. The collision damaged the fuel tank of the tanker truck, and it caught fire. Both the tractor trailer and tanker truck drivers suffered injuries. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. A nearby school was partially evacuated as a precautionary measure, although no students were injured. The initial panic when the tanker truck exploded led to rumors that smaller vehicles had been caught in the collision, but that wasn’t true. All lanes on I-85 were closed for several hours after the accident.

Transportation officials are appealing to motorists to take great care while driving through the construction zone. The construction work is expected to continue for the rest of the year, and conditions on the highway will continue to be dangerous. Officials are asking motorists to use other routes to get to their destination if possible. In spite of lower speed limits, there have been too many instances of speeding drivers causing accidents in the area. Reckless motorists continue to drive at excessive speeds, and there are too few law enforcement officers at the scene to crack down on speeding motorists. The conditions on the road are even worse when it rains.

Published on: April 10, 2009

Risk of Truck Accidents by Medically Unfit Drivers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Thousands of motorists continue to be at risk from truck accidents caused by truckers who are just too sick to drive. That terrifying fact comes to us via a report by a television station which claims that tens of thousands of truck drivers continue to be able to drive, despite suffering from a variety of ailments that should actually keep them away from the wheel.

Under trucking laws, drivers are expected to be able to produce a copy of their medical certificate that certifies that the driver is medically fit to be behind the wheel of a large commercial truck. However, far too many drivers are getting by with phony medical certificates. The process of obtaining a fake medical certificate is so easy it’s almost a joke. Blank certificates are available from the government website, and all a far-from-fit driver has to do is download a blank copy which he can then fill out himself, and sign. Verification methods are notoriously hard with the result that these drivers manage to smoothly and easily slip through the cracks. An investigation last year revealed that out of every three medical certificates produced at truck inspection stops, one could not be verified.

It’s not just the kind of deceit going on that should alarm Atlanta truck accident lawyers, but also the scale. According to a federal report last year, there are more than 560,000 truck drivers who are also currently receiving full medical-disability payments. That means there are 560,000 truck drivers with a valid commercial driver’s license who are not in any condition to be driving a large vehicle.

Published on: March 4, 2009

Georgia – TACT Aims at Reducing Truck Accident Rates

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Law enforcement officers in Lowndes and Cook Counties launched the Georgia TACT (Targeting Aggressive Cars and Truck) program on February 23^rd. The G-TACT program is a traffic safety awareness campaign that aims at reducing the number of large truck accidents on our highways. Motorists driving passenger vehicles are taught to identify the dangers they face when they share the road with an 18-wheeler. The enforcement program continued through the week, and included I–75 and a few other areas that were chosen because of the high number of truck accidents in these. The enforcement included car and truck drivers engaging in dangerous behavior like tailgating, recklessly changing lanes, failure to signal and speeding.

A total of 365 big rig – passenger car accidents occurred in these areas over a 3-year period, resulting in 389 injuries and 20 deaths as a result. Out of the total number of highway deaths that occur in Georgia every year, 15% are caused because of commercial motor vehicles – passenger car collisions. In an overwhelming majority of these crashes, the fatalities are occupants of the smaller car.

Collisions between 18-wheelers and smaller passenger cars can have a disastrous impact on the occupants of the car. These massive commercial trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and a smaller vehicle has minimal chance of escaping damage when it is involved in an accident with a truck of this size. The rules of the road change dramatically when you’re sharing the road with an 80,000 pound machine. Speeding or other negligent behaviors like using a cell phone can be doubly dangerous when you’re anywhere close to a large truck. Always maintain enough space between the car and the truck, and keep in mind that the truck driver because of his position may not be able to see you. Be alert to any signals or signs that the truck driver, makes signifying his intent to turn etc. Avoid tailgating a large truck at all costs.

Published on: July 21, 2008

Truck Accidents Caused by Medically Impaired Drivers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

If you have been involved in an accident or crash with a tractor-trailer or a bus, the statistics reveal the driver may have been medically impaired.The Associated Press reported today that it obtained an advance copy of a Government Accounting Office report showing that over 500,0000 of the country’s commercial truck drivers also qualify for full federal medical disability payments.Over a thousand drivers had vision, hearing and seizure disorders.

As far back as 2001, safety regulators advised the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the government office responsible for regulating commercial truck and bus drivers, that reforms must be undertaken to insure that those carrying commercial drivers licenses are medically fit to drive.

In 2006, the federal Transportation Department issued 7.3 million commercial driving citations for violating federal medical rules.Twelve states, one of which was Georgia, accounted for over half of the violations.