Articles Posted in Fatal Trucking Accidents

According to the National Safety Council, at least 42 people lost their lives in Maryland truck accidents in 2021. Given their typical size compared to a standard car, large tractor-trailers and other trucks can cause serious accidents. Fatal truck accidents often take a severe emotional and financial toll on the deceased victim’s family. Pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against the responsible party can help the deceased victim’s family recover compensation for their harm.

As a recent news article reported, a man lost his life in a Baltimore County, Maryland truck accident. The man was driving a Nissan Altima at an intersection near I-95 when a tractor-trailed rear-ended his car. Sadly, he died at the scene. His passenger was transported to the hospital for his injuries. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

What Are the Elements of a Maryland Wrongful Death Claim?

If your loved one has died in a Maryland truck accident, you may consider bringing a wrongful death claim against the responsible driver. In Maryland, a wrongful death claim provides an avenue for redress when the deceased is not alive to sue the party responsible for their death. Instead, a deceased person’s family members can file a wrongful death claim so long as the deceased could have sued the defendant. As a result, the elements of a wrongful death claim are similar to those in a typical negligence lawsuit. To hold a truck driver liable for wrongful death, the deceased victim’s family must prove the driver owed the deceased a duty of care, breached that duty by acting carelessly or failing to act, caused the fatal truck accident in question, and that the victim died as a consequence. If the judge or jury finds the truck driver liable, the driver must pay damages to the victim’s family in the form of monetary compensation.

According to a recent news article, a man and a woman were killed after their car crashed into a fire truck that was responding to a local emergency. Just after midnight on Wednesday, September 5, at South Avalon Boulevard and East Compton Boulevard, two people in a PT Cruiser crashed into the fire truck. Surveillance footage shows the moment of the collision as the PT Cruiser impacted the fire truck. Initially, witnesses believed that street racing was the cause of the crash, but family members of the deceased stated that they were being chased at the time of the crash. Officials have stated that speed was a factor in the crash. Four firefighters were inside the truck at the time of the collision and were taken to the hospital with non-critical injuries. The fire truck was on the way to a traffic collision at the time of the crash.

The danger of not wearing your seatbelt is compounded when a truck or other large vehicle is involved in the crash. That goes for people in the truck as well as others on the road. Large commercial vehicles like trucks are on the road to transport heavy items over long distances. That means that trucks can become difficult to maneuver in emergency situations, preventing truck drivers from turning or stopping suddenly due to the weight of their vehicle and cargo. Even without heavy cargo or large trailers, trucks are heavy, making accidents involving them inherently dangerous. Additionally, truck drivers are under extreme pressure to spend long hours on the road, as they need to meet delivery deadlines. This can lead to exhaustion and impaired judgment on the roads. Tired drivers are more likely to make mistakes when driving, increasing the likelihood of accidents. A recent news article discussed a serious truck accident.

What Are the Car Insurance Requirements in Maryland?

Maryland maintains minimum insurance requirements for drivers in the state. Minimum insurance requirements are designed to ensure sufficient compensation is available to victims of car accidents should it be required. As a result, Maryland drivers are required to purchase at least $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person, $60,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per accident, and $15,000 in property damage liability coverage.

Due to the size of a typical truck, Maryland truck accidents often result in serious injuries or fatalities. These consequences are all the more dire when a truck driver intentionally hits someone. Many truck drivers understand that their vehicles would cause life-threatening injuries to anyone they hit. When a truck driver intentionally strikes another person, they act with disregard for another person’s life. After these senseless accidents occur, the victim or the victim’s loved ones may sue the driver under Maryland personal injury law.

As a recent news article tragically reported, a man died after another man allegedly hit him deliberately with a tri-axle dump truck. According to local investigators in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, the incident occurred in the evening on a local road. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he passed away from his injuries. Police arrested the truck driver and charged him with third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle, and other offenses.

What Damages Can You Pursue in an Intentional Truck Accident?

After an intentional Maryland truck accident, a victim or their loved ones may bring a negligence lawsuit to recover damages against the responsible driver. In a negligence lawsuit, a plaintiff can seek two main types of damages. The first and most common are compensatory damages, which place the victim in the same position they were in before the accident. Compensatory damages can include economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages are easier to quantify and often include lost future earnings, hospital bills, and medical expenses. Non-economic damages intend to compensate the plaintiff for harm that is harder to quantify with a specific dollar amount. Emotional harm, such as pain and suffering, is a primary example.

While many people intuitively understand the greater risks involved in heavy truck accidents, they may not know that according to the statistical analysis organization Policy Advice, truck accidents have increased by 52% since 2009, and 74% of all fatal passenger vehicle accidents include large trucks.

Are Truck Accidents Responsible for More Deaths Than Car Accidents?

Crashes involving trucks, campers, and other large-sized vehicles are more dangerous than other types of collisions for a number of reasons. Trucks, especially very heavy ones such as semi-trucks inherently result in more serious accidents when they are involved in crashes due to their weight, size, and speed. Additionally, the conditions that many truck drivers operate under force them to drive extreme distances, resulting in fatigue. Further, large emergency response trucks, such as fire trucks, are often driving at extremely high speeds and operating under different driving rules than ordinary traffic, creating more opportunities for accidents. Finally, commercial trucks are also potentially carrying heavy cargo, complicating truck crashes and accidents. A recent news article discussed a local fatal truck accident.

According to the news article about a fatal truck crash, the accident occurred in January 2023 and resulted in a massive six-vehicle collision. According to investigators, the commercial truck driver who was responsible for the fiery crash was “actively using the TikTok application” when the collision occurred. A report released by the Arizona Department of Public Safety found that the driver, a 36-year-old man, failed to stop for traffic, and wedged two passenger vehicles into a second commercial truck, which then lurched forward and hit two other cars. Traffic at the time was already congested due to a prior incident. The truck driver stated that he “received a message on his electronic work tablet and acknowledged the message” according to a news report. He further stated that when he looked up traffic was stopped and he could not stop his truck in time to avoid the collision.

A recent news article discussed a local fatal fire truck crash. According to the news article about a recent fire truck crash, the fatal accident occurred in December 2021 and new details have recently emerged about the conditions that fueled the incident. The 23-ton fire truck left a devastating path of destruction behind it. The fire truck was speeding and ran a red light when it crashed into a car, continuing on before knocking a pedestrian into a building, killing her. The building collapsed shortly after.

The building collapse trapped a car, killing both the driver and the passenger. A 323-page report on the incident outlined multiple contributing factors to the crash. (1) The fire department is suffering from acute staffing shortages, (2) there is a lack of training for drivers, and (3) there were communication failures in the lead-up to the crash. The report mentioned that at the time, it was not against department policy to run red lights or go above the speed limit. Fire department policy has been updated to require fire trucks to stop at red lights.

What Makes Truck Accidents so Danegrous?

Crashes involving large-sized vehicles such as trucks or campers are inherently more dangerous than other types of collisions for a number of reasons. Trucks, especially very heavy ones such as fire trucks or semi-trucks result in more serious accidents when they are involved in crashes. Additionally, the conditions that many truck drivers operate under force them to drive extreme distances, resulting in fatigue. Further, large emergency response trucks, such as fire trucks, are often driving at extremely high speeds and operating under different driving rules than ordinary traffic, creating more opportunities for accidents. Finally, commercial trucks are also potentially carrying hazardous cargo, complicating truck crashes and accidents. While many people intuitively understand the greater risks involved in truck accidents, they may not know that according to the statistical analysis organization Policy Advice, truck accidents have increased by 52% since 2009, and 74% of all fatal passenger vehicle accidents include a large truck.

When driving next to a semi-truck, it may be common to feel nervous – to grip the wheel tighter, speed up, slow down, or change lanes to avoid being directly next to the truck. This may be for good reason, because of the very large size of the vehicles for one. In addition, the semi-trucks we see every day on the road also may be transporting hazardous materials.

The Hazardous Material Transportation Act of 1975 empowered the Secretary of Transportation to designate hazardous materials as “any particular quantity of form” of a material that “may pose an unreasonable risk to health and safety or property” (https://www.osha.gov/trucking-industry/transporting-hazardous-materials). Additionally, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990 requires the Secretary of Transportation to regulate the safe transport of hazardous materials in intrastate, interstate, and foreign commerce. All drivers who are transporting hazardous materials are required to undergo training and follow protocols while transporting these materials to ensure safety. Although these protocols and regulations are in place, accidents may still occur and can have devasting impacts. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has also identified different hazardous materials, requiring that a vehicle transporting such materials display a clearly visible card around the trailer to ensure that other drivers on the road are aware.

A recent report revealed the dangers. According to the news report, two people died after a fatal crash on US-12 in Berrien County, Michigan. The driver of a liquid-propane hauler was traveling eastbound when the driver crossed the median and struck a gasoline hauler head-on. Although some liquid propane leaked from the truck, it was quickly contained. The driver of the liquid-propane hauler was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the gasoline hauler was transported to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Initial investigations revealed that both drivers appeared to be wearing seatbelts, although the cause of the accident is still being investigated.

A woman died earlier this month after her vehicle was struck by a semi-truck while she was traveling along a Georgia highway. According to a local news report discussing the accident, the 43-year-old woman was killed when her Hyundai Sonata was hit by a semi-truck as she attempted to make a left-hand turn at an intersection. The article notes that the intersection was controlled by a traffic signal device and that the semi-truck appeared to have the right of way when the accident occurred.

Although semi-trucks and other large commercial or industrial vehicles can be especially dangerous to other drivers involved. When drivers are using roads with heavy semi-truck traffic, they should be extra vigilant to ensure their safety and prevent an accident. If another driver is injured or killed when failing to yield the right-of-way to a semi-truck, that driver or their family may face difficulties in obtaining compensation for any damages incurred in the crash.

Police and media reports made after an accident may appear to tell the entire story of an accident, however, the fault as allocated by a police officer, or stated in a news report, is not a final determination. It is not uncommon in Maryland for a personal injury case to be resolved with findings that are not consistent with initial police or media reports. Because of this, anyone involved in a Maryland, DC, or Virginia semi-truck accident should seek legal counsel to perform a full investigation of the crash and determine if the police reports were accurate.

When a motor vehicle accident occurs, it is common for those involved, including drivers, passengers, and witnesses, to exchange information for any insurance claims and legal claims. However, in the case of hit-and-run accidents, a driver who flees may face both civil and criminal liability. In the state of Maryland, under the Maryland Transportation Code, there are penalties that perpetrators face for leaving the scene of an accident that causes serious bodily injury. If someone leaves the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury, this is a punishable felony by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

According to a recent news report, a Philadelphia man was killed in a hit-and-run crash involving a tow truck driver. Police say that the crash happened around 2 a.m. when a tow truck ran a red light and crashed into the car of a 51-year-old man, resulting in the 51-year-old’s death. The impact from the collision resulted in damage to three additional cars parked along the road, including the force of the crush pushing at least one car down the street. Witnesses say that they saw the tow truck driver running from the scene. Police are still working to locate the driver.

Does Car Insurance Cover a Hit and Run Accident?

Yes, depending on your insurance coverage, your policy may cover a hit and run accident. If you are a victim of a hit-and-run accident, you may have questions about what next steps to take. Typically, you exchange insurance and contact information with those involved in the accident, but in the case of a hit-and-run accident, you are not able to exchange this vital information.