Personal Injury Law

No Serious Injuries After Tractor-Trailer Overturns Onto School Bus on Kansas City Highway

By Jeffrey Lowe

As a Missouri semi truck accident attorney, I was happy to read that no one was seriously injured in an early-morning crash between a school bus and a commercial truck. According to a Sept. 21 article from TV station KMBC in Kansas City, it was just 6 a.m. when the crash took place on the junction from Interstate 670 west to Interstate 35 south. The truck apparently overbalanced on the ramp, the article said, causing it to fall and slide into the bus. No children were on the school bus, and the drivers of both vehicles escaped with only minor injuries. However, the crash snarled traffic through the city?s downtown loop.

The accident also spilled the truck?s load of crushed cars intended as scrap metal. The Kansas City Fire Department?s hazardous materials team was called, but no toxic material was reported. However, as a St. Louis tanker truck accident attorney, I?m glad this crash took place so early, and the load spill is part of the reason why. A load of crushed cars may not cause a toxic spill, but it?s still a heavy load with the potential to do serious damage to anything it may land on. Furthermore, the slowdown from the crash can easily cause secondary accidents, as drivers are forced to slow and stop unexpectedly and sometimes very rapidly. And of course, school buses tend to be full of children later in the morning.

The load spill also invites the question of how the truck was originally loaded. Most trucking accidents are caused by bad choices by one or more of the drivers involved, but improper loading absolutely can play a part in crashes. In fact, an improper load can even cause accidents by causing trailers to go out of control, tipping over a truck or spilling goods into the traffic around the truck. When loads spill, experienced southern Illinois 18-wheeler accident lawyers should always check whether overloading, improper placement or improper securing of the load by the trucking company played a part. In many cases, both the trucker and his or her trucking company are ultimately found responsible for this type of accident.

Full post as published by Trucking Accident Attorney Blog on September 29, 2009 (boomark / email).