Los Angeles Truck Accident Examples

Semi Truck Plows Into Two Vehicles

A 26-year old driver was seriously injured when, after striking a highway barrier with his car, a semi-truck plowed into his vehicle. Also stopped on the road was a second vehicle whose driver halted to render assistance to the driver of the first. While no injuries from the second vehicle were reported, the semi-truck actually plowed into both vehicles before they could clear the road.

It is unclear what caused the driver of the first vehicle to strike the barrier in the first place, but the entire accident remains an open investigation. The accident happened in Illinois, just past 1:30 am on March 13th, 2013.

Being a Great Good Samaritan

The driver of the second vehicle in the situation above is fortunate that he did not suffer the same fate as the driver of the first, but considerable amounts of damage could have been avoided if the response by the good samaritan had been more cautious.

While it is understandable to want to help other motorists after an accident, the best way to help is to first pull over to the side of the highway, or exit the highway completely, before calling for emergency responders. Stopping in the middle of the road creates another hazard that oncoming traffic may not be able to see in time to react, and creates the real risk of serious injury to the good samaritan who may not be paying attention to oncoming traffic at all.

By getting off the road to call emergency responders, a good samaritan can ensure that he or she will be out of the danger zone while the call is made and that the call won’t distract from his or her own driving.

Finding Fault

When a person suffers an injury because of the negligence or recklessness of another, that injury victim generally has a right to seek compensation from those involved in causing the injuries. Unfortunately, finding fault and determining who to seek compensation from is not always easy. This is why an experienced truck accident attorney should be allowed to review the facts of a case and offer advice on the best course of legal action.

In cases involving a chain of events and several different people, no single person may be entirely to blame for an injury and, in some cases, the law will even reduce a person’s recovery by his or her own level of fault. This means that a person who contributes to his own injuries recovers less in court than the person who contributes in no way at all. Most states use comparative negligence as the basis for splitting damages while few (mostly on the east coast) use contributory negligence doctrine.

To make sure they pursue the appropriate level of compensation from the appropriate parties, injury victims are encouraged to seek out professional legal advice before moving forward with any personal injury claim.

The case involving the semi-truck and the two vehicles stopped on the highway remains an open investigation, but there are several possible outcomes that can be speculated based on the facts as they have been reported so far. The driver of the semi-truck might face civil charges for the injury because it was his truck that slammed into the two vehicles, the good samaritan could face civil charges for blocking the road with the second vehicle and, in effect, doubling the size of the hazard of the road, and the injured driver may even face civil charges if the original crash which set the chain of events in motion was avoidable if not for his own negligence or recklessness.

Each case is different and will depend on the facts involved and the jurisdiction where the case is tried.

Bizarre Semi Truck Accidents

The maximum allowed weight for a U.S. semi-trailer is 80,000 lbs and the weight of a small car, truck, or minivan averages to around 4,000 lbs. This means, when fully loaded, a semi-trailer can weigh up to 20 times more than its surrounding vehicles. This is why it is so important to not only follow the laws put in place when sharing the road with semi-trucks, but to use common sense including:

Not following semi trucks too closely;
Staying out of their blind spots aka “no-zones”;
Allowing semi-trucks plenty of room to make wide turns;
Not cutting off a semi-trucks, they take longer to slow down;
And remember to always drive defensively.

In 2014, a study was conducted showing that there were 10.7 fatal semi-truck accidents in the United States per million people. The data can seem a bit shocking from afar, but once you take a look at some of the most bizarre semi-truck accidents we found, the numbers might make a little bit more sense.

The image below is of a garbage truck crashing through the third floor of a maintenance facility in New York City back in August of 2011. The driver of the garbage truck claims to have lost control which resulted in a nearly fatal accident. Visit this site to read the full article.

I struggled to find an article explaining the next bizarre semi-truck “accident” so I decided to make up my own story:

Truck A (the yellow and green semi) has a terrible fear of tunnels. Truck B (the blue and grey semi) knowing of truck A’s fear of tunnels decided to give him a boost.

Think I’m wrong in my assumption? That instead, the drivers of the semi-trucks were driving under the influence with a side of road rage? It is a possibility…but I prefer to view the glass half full and this glass says they were being courteous.

Since I seem to have a knack for piecing stories together (referring to the above bizarre semi-truck accident) I wanted to give you the chance to analyze and predict a story yourself.

What do you think happened?

I’m sure you’ve been backed up in crappy traffic before but nothing compared to what this guy experienced.

All jokes aside, any time you are behind the wheel you are responsible for your safety and the safety of others around you. Most accidents happen when drivers become careless of the basic safety precautions including:

Wearing a seatbelt;
Checking your mirrors;
Check to make sure your brake lights and headlights are working;
Checking the tread on your tires before driving long distances;
And not driving drowsy.

Another huge factor behind traffic accidents is road rage. Check out this example of road rage caught on tape: https://www.click2houston.com/news/road-rage-video-of-hummer-blocking-semi-in-midland-goes-viral

Remember the recent statistics, in 2014, 10.7 semi-truck accidents in the United States per million people were fatal. If you or a loved one are ever involved in a car wreck involving a semi-truck call Fisher & Talwar for a free consultation. They have helped thousands of people in Los Angeles get the help they needed to recover whether it was for medical bills or compensation for the injured while missing work recovering from severe injuries. Contact a truck accident attorney in Los Angeles today and get the help you deserve.