Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog

Tragedy struck earlier this month when the business editor of the Baltimore Sun newspaper was killed in a trucking accident involving a United Parcel Service delivery truck. The wreck also injured the man’s nine-year-old daughter. Although the accident investigation was not yet completed, it appears that the truck driver may have run a red light. As Maryland trucking accident attorneys, our firm represents victims and their families in cases involving driver negligence and fatal or near-fatal injury accidents caused by drivers of semis and other heavy trucks.

The collision that took the life of Timothy Wheatley in the morning hours of October 1 at the intersection of Corbett and York Road in Monkton also resulted in critical injuries to his young daughter, Sarah. The two were riding in Wheatley’s 1999 Honda Civic when it was broadsided by the UPS delivery vehicle.

Police reports show that the Wheatley was dead at the scene, while his daughter survived and was taken to Sinai Hospital and then Johns Hopkins Children Center. The forth-grader from Sparks Elementary School was still listed as critical several days later.

Police received and accident call just before 9am. According to witnesses, the Civic was pulling out of Corbett Road to go southbound on York Road when it was hit by the truck. Deborah Curtis of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, was two cars behind the UPS truck as it drove northbound on York Road. Curtis told police that she believed the traffic light was red for York Road traffic. According to reports, Curtis had begun to slow down as she approached the light, looked over at her son, and when she looked up again, the UPS truck had already hit the car.

After smashing into the Wheatley’s vehicle, the UPS truck then plowed through two rows of painted wooden fences and came to rest in the field of Marathon Farm, a horse farm owned by Peter Angelos. Police identified the UPS driver as Kevin Callahan, 28, of the unit block of Wellhaven Circle, in Owings Mills. He was not injured in the accident, Toohey said.

Crash claims life of Monkton man, injures 9-year-old daughter, ExploreBaltimoreCounty.com, October 1, 2009

A recent semi-truck accident near Baltimore, MD, resulted in a dangerous car fire that could have killed three members of a family whose compact car was hit by the truck on a Saturday afternoon. My firm, Lebowitz & Mzhen, LLC, represents victims of heavy truck crashes not unlike the one that occurred on Interstate 95 in late September. Trucking accidents involving small cars can result in serious injuries and occasionally death. Fortunately, it looks like all three occupants of the small car were rescued and survived the ordeal.

According to new accounts, fire rescue workers from Baltimore City’s fire department rushed to the scene of a truck-car crash on the southbound side of I-95 near I-396 North in the early afternoon of September 26. First responders found a small car enveloped in flames having been struck by a tractor trailer.

After suppressing much of the flames, fire department personnel worked to free three trapped family members from the wrecked and smoldering vehicle. Names were not released at the time of the incident, however police reports show that one adult male, an adult pregnant woman and male child were all caught inside the burning vehicle.

The child who was found trapped in the rear of the car apparently suffered serious second and third degree burns to his torso, neck and face along with other injuries. Rescuers determined that the boy still had had vital life signs. He was rapidly extricated from the car, treated with advanced trauma life support procedures and quickly transported to Johns Hopkins Children's Center for further assessments and treatment.

According to the report, the driver of the tractor trailer reportedly suffered minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital. Police officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority could not immediately determine what caused the accident. An investigation was ongoing at the time of the report.

Family Rescued After Crash with Tractor Trailer, ABC2News.com, September 26, 2009

As Maryland trucking accident lawyers, we understand the seriousness of any highway traffic accident involving semi-tractor trailers. Every year, hundreds and even thousands of heavy trucks are involved in multi-vehicle accidents, usually resulting in serious injuries to the smaller cars caught up in the collision; some wrecks are fatal to the occupants of these passenger cars. This is an unfortunate fact when it comes to these big rigs.

What’s worse is that statistics show that large trucks are more likely to be involved in serious multiple-vehicle collisions than sedans, coupes or other smaller passenger cars. These statistics also indicate that time and time again injuries resulting from truck accidents can be much more serious and many times fatal. Common injuries include spinal cord damage, severe brain trauma, broken bones and other serious and permanent bodily harm.

Because heavy trucks such as Macks, Kenworths, Peterbuilts, Freightliners and other makes are important to the commerce of this country, the volume and frequency of these large vehicles on public roads will always be significant, especially during weekdays. Busy metropolitan areas get their fair share of truck traffic, both on expressways and surface streets near industrial parks.

As drivers of smaller, family vehicles and passenger cars, we must all deal with the presence of these larger more massive trucks on a daily basis. When fully loaded, a semi-tractor and trailer can weight up to 80,000 pounds -- this is roughly equivalent to more than 20 times the average weight of a typical passenger car, minivan, SUV or pickup truck. In a crash, a fully-loaded semi can literally crush another smaller car as well as its occupants.

From research performed over the years, we know that many trucking accidents could have been avoided. Although most trucking companies are responsible enough to ensure that their trucks and drivers are safe, some are not. Cargo overloading is more common than one would expect and can cause operational problems for the driver of these big rigs. In an accident situation, and overloaded truck takes longer to stop and can more easily lose control, depending on the road conditions.

Truck drivers themselves will occasionally take risks on the road, even though such actions could jeopardize the safety of other motorists. While most truck drivers observe truck and traffic safety laws, some do not. Instances of exceeding the legal on-road driving time -- for example to meet a deadline -- are common in the newspaper headlines where a tragic accident resulted from the truck driver falling asleep at the wheel. Others may drive too fast or making unsafe passing maneuvers and turns. In a small number of cases, trucking accidents have been drunk driving accidents.

If you or someone you love have been injured in a trucking-related traffic accident, Lebowitz & Mzhen, LLC advise you to contact a qualified legal profession to discuss your situation and determine if you have grounds for a lawsuit to recover medical costs, lost wages or other compensation for your pain and suffering.

A recent study had some interesting findings about tractor-trailer operators, traffic accidents and cell phone texting habits. Because our firm, Lebowitz-Mzhen, LLC handles a large number of trucking accident injury cases, we were not surprised to learn that the chance for truck drivers to be involved in a highway collision is directly proportional to whether they are texting on their cell phone while operating a big rig.

According to the report, on released from a new study this week report that texting while driving increases the chance that a truck driver will be involved in a traffic accident or near-accident by 23 times. Researches from Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute looked at commercial trucking information from two studies -- one in 2003 and the other in 2007. More than two hundred truck drivers who drove over three million miles took part in the study. The institute looked at 4,452 events considered “safety-critical,” including 197 near accidents and 21 truck crashes.

Video cameras were used to record event in the cabs of the trucks during the study. Those cameras shot footage of truck drivers’ facial reactions in the final seconds right before a near miss truck crash or an actual truck accident. The footage showed that the main reason texting while driving is so dangerous for truck drivers is that they have to take their eyes off the road.

A representative for the institute’s Center for Truck and Bus Safety, Rich Hanowski, said that taking one’s eyes off the road when driving for more than two seconds constitutes a dangerous situation. Yet in the last six seconds just prior to these truck accidents and near collisions, a number of the truckers spent an average of 4.6 seconds with their eyes on their communication device rather than the road. In that length of time, a truck moving at 55mph will have traveled more than the length of a football field.

Hanowski reminded that texting while driving isn’t just a dangerous pastime for truck drivers, it’s a risky behavior for any driver, including passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans. While Maryland law will make it illegal for motorists to text while driving starting in October 2009, legislation this isn’t always enough to get drivers to stop texting while driving. Yet the consequences can be catastrophic, such as when a large tractor-trailer ends up slamming into a small passenger car because a trucker was busy checking messages.

Texting and Driving Don't Mix, WashingtonPost.com, July 29, 2009