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Trucking Accident Attorney Blog

Covers trucking accident case law , news and events dealing with trucking accident law. Written by injury lawyer Jeff Lowe.
By Jeffrey Lowe

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Last Entry: November 17, 2009 at 19:28:27

Defect on Grain Truck Kills Three and Sends Four to Hospital Near St. Joseph

Posted on November 17, 2009
As a Missouri trucking accident attorney, I was disappointed to read about an accident last week that took the lives of two members of Missouri?s Amish community. The St. Joseph News-Press reported Nov. 12 that three people died and four others were injured in a crash caused by a grain truck that lost a wheel outside of the northwestern Missouri town of Jamesport...

Trucking Accident Causes Explosion on Highway 40 and Death of Young Man

Posted on November 11, 2009
As a St. Louis semi truck accident attorney, I was disappointed to see that a young man died over this past weekend in a crash with a large truck. According to a Nov. 10 article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch?s Suburban Journals, 20-year-old Kyle Lauders of O?Fallon died around 3:40 a...

Obama Administration Agrees to Reverse Increase in Truckers Allowable Hours of Driving

Posted on November 05, 2009
The length of truckers? on-the-road shifts is an important issue for Missouri big rig accident attorneys like me. Research and common sense show that driving for very long hours leaves drivers tired, and very tired drivers can get into serious accidents -- or resort to unsafe stimulants to stay awake...

Sweep Takes 77 Commercial Truck Drivers Off the Road for Drug and Alcohol Violations

Posted on October 30, 2009
Trucking regulations are an important part of my job as a St. Louis semi truck accident attorney. Trucking companies and truckers are required to follow certain safety rules, but after many accidents, an investigation shows that they outright ignored or bent those rules...

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Federal Regulators May Require Device Requiring Truckers to Apply Brakes During Ignition

Posted on October 23, 2009
Because I am a Missouri trucking accident attorney, I keep an eye on any safety changes that come out of the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that regulates interstate trucking. That?s how I came across an article on Today?sTrucking...

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

Posted on September 29, 2009
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...

Missouri Truck Driver Faces 10 Counts of Negligent Homicide in Oklahoma Highway Crash

Posted on September 23, 2009
As a Missouri semi truck accident attorney, I was not surprised to see that the Oklahoma authorities have charged Donald Creed with ten counts of misdemeanor negligent homicide in June?s Interstate 40 tragedy. As I have written here before, Creed was driving a truck for Associated Wholesale Grocers of Kansas City when he failed to stop for traffic ahead, plowing into six stopped cars near the Okalahoma-Missouri border...

Lawrence County Missouri Police Searching for Semi Truck That Hit Car and Ran

Posted on September 18, 2009
Authorities in Lawrence County, Missouri, are still searching for a truck whose driver allegedly pushed another car into traffic, news station KY3 in Springfield reported Sept. 3. The station said the incident may have been caused by ?road rage? on the part of the truck?s driver...

Federal Government Approves Truck-Only Lanes Plan for Interstate 70 Through Missouri

Posted on September 11, 2009
The federal government has approved a plan to build truck-only lanes on Interstate 70 throughout the entire state of Missouri, the Kansas City Star reported Sept. 9. The Federal Highway Administration gave its approval to the plan by the Missouri Department of Transportation, which means the project is now eligible for federal funding...

Illinois Raises Highway Speed Limits for Big Rig Trucks in All Areas Outside Chicago

Posted on September 01, 2009
Illinois governor Pat Quinn quietly signed legislation allowing tractor-trailers to drive at the same speeds as cars in most areas of the state, the Southtown (Ill.) Star reported Aug. 25. The bill, which takes effect next Jan. 1, makes Illinois the 41st U...

Federal Judge Awards $18 Million to Couple After Trucking Accident Leaves Husband Severely Disabled

Posted on August 25, 2009
In what may be the first legal verdict to come out of the horrific Highway 40 tractor-trailer accident in 2008, a judge has awarded $18 million to a couple affected by the crash. According to an Aug. 25 article by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mark and Cheryl Tiburzi sued truck driver Jeffrey Knight and his former trucking company, Holmes Transport Inc...

Federal Report Finds Hundreds of Trucking Companies Ordered to Shut Down Still Driving With New Names

Posted on August 18, 2009
More than 1,000 trucking companies have avoided a federal regulator?s order to shut down and pay fines for safety violations by simply changing their names, the Associated Press reported July 30. The revelation comes from a study by the Government Accountability Office of ?motor carriers? -- trucking and bus companies -- regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration...

Study Finds Truckers Have 23 Times Greater Risk of Crashing When Text Messaging

Posted on August 05, 2009
A new study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute confirms what many Missouri truck accident attorneys have known for ages: Text messaging substantially raises a semi truck driver?s chance of a serious accident. According to an article published by the New York Times July 27, the VTTI found that text messaging by truckers raised the chances of a crash or a near-crash by 23 times...

St. Louis Women Nearly Crushed by Semi-Truck's Load: A Tractor

Posted on July 17, 2009
Last week, I saw a truly bizarre accident on TV station KTVI (Fox 2). On July 8, on Highway D in St. Charles County, two women were almost crushed inside their car by a Caterpillar grader that was being transported by a flatbed semi truck in the next lane...

Southern Illinois Woman Suffers Minor Injuries After Truck Allegedly Ran Her Off Road

Posted on July 10, 2009
Two women are uninjured and another suffered only minor injuries after a crossover collision, The Southern reported July 6. Illinois state police said Kyra Rivera of Potter Springs, Georgia was driving south when she was forced off the road by a semitrailer truck...

Woman and Daughter Injured in Crash when Tractor-Trailer Failed to Yield

Posted on June 26, 2009
A few days ago, I saw an article in the Marshfield Mail about a woman and her daughter who got into a wreck on I-44 because a tractor-trailer had failed to yield the right of way. Apparently in order to avoid colliding with the big rig as it unexpectedly moved forward, the woman swerved and ended up hitting a guardrail...

Missouri Pedestrian 200 Feet from Road Struck by Overturned Big Rig When Driver Failed to Stop

Posted on June 19, 2009
A tractor-trailer truck recently overturned in Shelby County, injuring a man nearby. Overturning is a particularly deadly hazard with commercial trucks -- a study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration called it the most common large truck driver fatality accident type...

Road Check 2009 Cites Almost 200 Big Rig Drivers Nationwide With More Than 1,400 Violations

Posted on June 10, 2009
Last week, an annual campaign dubbed Road Check 2009 was held at more than 1,000 locations across North America. Sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), the inspections took place from Tuesday, June 2 through Thursday, June 4. Over these three days, state law enforcement agencies conducted intensive inspections of safety equipment and practices aboard 18-wheel vehicles...

Truck Driver Runs Light, Severely Injures Illinois Woman

Posted on June 04, 2009
A few days ago I came across an article in the St. Clair Record about a particularly disturbing southern Illinois trucking accident. On May 22, Aisha Wright filed suit in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Reithoffer Shows truck driver Tina Hales...

Illinois Considers Raising Highway Speed Limit for Commercial Trucks

Posted on May 27, 2009
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is considering whether to increase the speed limit for semi trucks from 55 mph to 65 mph, the Bloomington Pantagraph reported May 18. Both houses of the Illinois Legislature passed the measure, but the governor can still veto it...

State Where Trucking Accident Lawsuit Is Heard Will Determine Whether Family Can Recover Damages

Posted on May 20, 2009
A story in the Joplin Globe recently caught my eye because it involves legal issues very important to Missouri trucking accident lawyers like me. The story centers on a family of four from Joplin who were killed when their car, which was stopped for a red light, was struck by a tractor-trailer and burst into flames...

Kansas to Follow Missouri?s Lead by Installing Highway Median Guard Cables to Prevent Serious Trucking Accidents

Posted on May 15, 2009
After a series of fatal head-on semi truck accidents, the Kansas Department of Transportation plans to install highway median guard cables in certain areas of the state, the Kansas City Star reported May 11. The barriers are thick, strong metal cables that divide lanes of traffic moving in opposite directions...

Truck Safety Coalition Launches Campaign to Stop Increase in Legal Size and Weight of Large Trucks

Posted on May 08, 2009
A nonprofit group lobbying for stricter safety regulations on large tractor-trailers launched a campaign May 4 to ensure that trucks don?t get any larger. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch?s Along for the Ride blog said the Truck Safety Coalition is opposing a proposal in Congress that would increase the legal limit for how much trucks may weigh...

Four-Vehicle Southern Illinois Semi Truck Accident Kills One Trucker, Injures Another

Posted on May 01, 2009
A chain-reaction crash in Southern Illinois left one trucker dead and another in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, The Southern reported April 21. The accident happened on Interstate 57 in Franklin County, between Benton and Sesser. According to police, trucker Lawrence Rich failed to slow down in time for stopped traffic in front of him...

Truck Overturns and Catches Fire in Semi Truck Crash on I-70 Near Columbia

Posted on April 23, 2009
Wet roads sent four people to the hospital and closed Interstate 70 for hours April 20, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported that day. Luckily, no one was killed in the three-vehicle accident, which began when one eastbound car hydroplaned and slammed into another...

Trucker Criminally Charged in Massive St. Louis Semi Truck Accident That Claimed Three Lives

Posted on April 17, 2009
Prosecutors have criminally charged the driver of a tractor-trailer with the deaths of three people in last summer?s tragic St. Louis truck crash on Interstate 40. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported April 15 that Jeffrey Knight of Alabama is being held in Clayton County Jail on three counts of manslaughter for the deaths of Lydia Miller, Alvin Mast and Charles ?Keith? Cason...

Charges May Be Brought in Semi Truck Accident that Killed Construction Worker

Posted on April 06, 2009
Prosecutors in southern Illinois are considering criminal charges against the driver of a truck that killed a construction worker last June. According to the Belleville News-Democrat, the victim, Cedric L. B. Gasper, was sitting on the tailgate of parked a pickup truck on Illinois 15 when the tractor-trailer pushed through several construction barricades and rammed the front end of the truck...

Liquid Nitrogen Tanker Truck Involved in Single Vehicle Southern Illinois Truck Accident

Posted on April 03, 2009
A tanker truck carrying a load of liquid nitrogen for fertilizer crashed in Belleville, Ill. March 6, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. The truck?s driver was delivering the fertilizer to his son?s farm, the newspaper said, when he made a left turn and slid into a ditch...

Trucker Acquitted in Fatal Poplar Street Bridge Accident While New Trucking Accident Happens on Same Bridge

Posted on March 27, 2009
A tractor-trailer truck overturned on the Poplar Street bridge in St. Louis March 4, the same day another truck driver was acquitted in an unrelated fatal truck accident on the same bridge. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the tractor-trailer crashed into a ramp on the bridge and overturned before 9 a...

MoDOT Considers Truck-Only Lanes on I-70 to Reduce Missouri Trucking Accidents

Posted on March 18, 2009
The Missouri Department of Transportation is pressing ahead with its plan to build truck-only lanes on part of Interstate 70, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Examiner of Independence, Mo. reported. After a yearlong study of the effects and cost of the project, the department is proceeding with public discussions of the plan, such as the one held March 5 in Blue Springs...

Hazmat Spill After Missouri Truck Crash Closes Highway Near Springfield

Posted on March 13, 2009
U.S. Route 65 was closed for about three hours between Ozark and Springfield due to a Missouri trucking accident, the Springfield News-Leader reported March 5. The highway was closed after a tanker truck carrying a load of ammonium nitrate had a one-vehicle rollover accident, later determined to have been caused by a blown tire...

Trucking Company Sues State for Failure to Salt Road -- Missouri Trucking Accident Attorney

Posted on February 27, 2009

Semi Truck Spill Closes Kansas City Entrance Ramp -- St. Louis Mack Truck Accident Law Firm

Posted on February 23, 2009
A semi truck rolled over and spilled hazardous chemicals on an Interstate 70 entrance ramp Feb. 6, the Kansas City Star reported. According to the paper, the trucker got out of the truck himself and was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries...

Dropped Fire Hose Causes Pileup on Interstate 64 -- Southern Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer

Posted on February 18, 2009
The Johnston City Fire Department will cover the costs of multiple minor accidents caused by a dropped fire hose, the Southern Illinoisan reported Feb. 4. The truck dropped 1,000 feet of hose on Interstate 64 near Centralia, the paper said, on its way to Freeburg for maintenance...

Truck Driver Injured in Southeast Missouri Crash -- St. Louis Big Rig Accident Attorney

Posted on February 03, 2009
A truck driver was injured Jan. 13 after his tractor-trailer rolled over on Highway 60, the Joplin Globe reported. The driver was in Lawrence County at about 1:21 p.m. when he apparently fell asleep, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. He lost control of his truck and swerved off and onto the road before swerving off again and overturning the tractor-trailer...

Train Collides with Garbage Truck in Southern Illinois -- Missouri Traffic Accident Law Firm

Posted on January 28, 2009
For the second time in just over a month, a passenger train has hit a vehicle across the tracks in Macoupin County, Ill. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Chicago-bound train hit a garbage truck that was on the tracks just north of Carlinville, in southern Illinois, early on Jan...

Tractor trailer kills motorist in Warren County, Missouri Accident--Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer

Posted on January 26, 2009
More than a dozen vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction accident on westbound Interstate 70 near Warrenton, about 50 miles west of St. Louis, Missouri on December 23, 2008. As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the accident claimed the life of one motorist, Edwin W...

Cell Phone May Have Distracted Semi Driver in Massive St. Louis Trucking Accident -- Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer

Posted on January 22, 2009
Investigators into a multi-car trucking accident on Highway 40 say the truck driver was using a cell phone at the time of the wreck, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported. According to the paper, the driver admitted to investigators that he was reaching for and opening his phone before his truck hit a line of vehicles at the junction with Interstate 270...

Truck Driver Admits Cell Phone Distraction Before Crash--Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer

Posted on January 14, 2009
A truck driver who was involved in a deadly highway pileup in St. Louis last summer admitted to a Missouri Highway Patrol investigator that he was distracted by a cell phone before he ran into a line of 10 cars, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. On July 15, 2008, Jeffrey R...

Bus Driver Faces Reckless Driving Charges-Missouri/Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer

Posted on January 12, 2009
A collision between two city buses in Lynchburg, Virginia sent three people to the hospital with minor injuries, The News & Advance reports. The crash occurred on Jan. 12. Two buses were approaching a stop light when a bus driven by James Fitzhugh slammed into the back of the other bus...

Missouri Truck Crash Sends Two to Hospital -- St. Louis 18-Wheeler Accident Law Firm

Posted on December 28, 2008
A grandmother and her grandchild in central Missouri ended up in the hospital after a crash with a large truck, the Daily Guide of Waynesville reported. This was actually the second truck accident to happen Dec. 3 along the eastbound side of Interstate 44...

Dump Truck's Flying Tire Injures Man-- Missouri Semi Accident Lawyer

Posted on December 24, 2008
A man was injured when a truck?s tire came loose and struck him during morning rush hour, Minnesota?s WCCO reported. The station said a tire came off a dump truck on Interstate 35W during morning rush hour Dec. 5, hitting the man?s car. The highway was closed to allow a medical helicopter to take the victim to a hospital...

Illinois Corruption Scandal Recalls Illegal Sale of Truck Driver Licenses -- St. Louis Tractor-Trailer Accident Attorney

Posted on December 22, 2008
The corruption scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has prompted a series of news reports explaining the state?s history of corruption, such as this one from Time magazine. As the article points out, Blagojevich took office directly after former Gov...

Semi Crash Resulting in Serious Injuries

Posted on December 03, 2008
The collision of two tractor trailers causing serious injuries has resulted in a jury awarding $23.5 millionthe Wichita Eagle reports. On March 16, 2006, Terry Frederick, from Overland Park, Kan., was a passenger in a Yellow Freight semi. Frederick?s lawyers claimed that Robyn Getchel, the driver of a Swift Transportation tractor-trailer, was backing up from a rest stop onto the highway when she hit the Yellow Freight semi...

Missouri Truck Accidents are down in 2007

Posted on October 26, 2008
Fewer truck accidents occurred in Missouri comparing 2005 with 2007. In fact there were 23% fewer fatal accidents which means Missouri highways are safer. The Missouri Highway Patrol reports that the number of commercial motor vehicle fatality crashes fell 23 percent between 2005 and 2007...

Wrongful Death Suit Filed Regarding Fatal Truck Crash Involving VH-1 Truck Driver

Posted on October 26, 2008
The parents of a 19-year-old college student who was killed when the car she was riding in was struck by a truck hauling sound equipment for a reality dating show have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, the Associated Press reports. On Sept. 26, truck driver Dennis Hernandez was hauling equipment for the ?Rock of Love Bus? reality series when he allegedly fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the center line and crashed into a car driven by St...

Jury in Tractor Trailer Crash Death Case Awards $1 Million

Posted on October 21, 2008
A jury in Alabama has awarded $1 million to the son of a man killed in a tractor-trailer crash, the Dothan Eagle reports. Kenneth Watkins filed the wrongful death suit after his 79-year-old father, Joseph Watkins, was killed at the intersection of U...

Recent Trucking Accident Jury Verdicts

Posted on October 05, 2008
When trucks are involved in accidents rarely to the accidents involve minor injuries. The fact that truck accidents involve serious injuries is demonstrated by the size of some of the recent jury verdicts in truck accident cases. Here?s a round-up of recent verdicts involving tractor-trailer crashes that have been handed down across the country: $87 million ? A Texas man who was partially paralyzed after a 6-ton U-Haul truck rolled over him was awarded the amount by a Dallas County jury...

Jury Awards $1.5M in Truck Crash Case

Posted on October 03, 2008
Last week, a Texas jury awarded $1.5 million to two men who were hurt when a semi crashed into their car, the Associated Press reports. In 2006, Ronny Martinez, 37, and Kenneth O?Neal, were driving down a highway in Texas when a tractor-trailer struck their car...

Truck Driver Falls Asleep, Kills Two Students

Posted on September 29, 2008
A college student who was driving home to visit her family for the weekend was killed by a truck driver who fell asleep behind the wheel, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Yasmin S. Jackson, a 19-year-old sophomore at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, was headed north on Interstate 57 in Southern Illinois at about 5 p...

Truck Driver Fatigue Blamed for Five Deaths

Posted on September 18, 2008
The National Transportation Safety Board revealed this week that a trucker who failed to use his off-duty time to rest and then fell asleep behind the wheel was the cause of a crash that killed five people. The deadly collision occurred on Oct. 16, 2005 just before 2 a...

Truck Drive Fatigue a/k/a Asleep at the Wheel--Causes Another Truck Accident

Posted on September 09, 2008
Despite the warnings against driving while drowsy, fatigue continues to be a problem for truck drivers. Recently, a 55-year-old truck driver who was traveling eastbound on I-70 fell asleep at the wheel. The truck went off the highway and back on then overturned on its side...

Truck Hauling Unstable Payload Triggers Highway Shutdown

Posted on September 06, 2008
As an accident last week in Texas demonstrates, hauling unstable cargo can have disastrous consequences. On Sept. 3, a Ford F-150 pickup truck was hauling a dump truck attached to a trailer. According to the McKinney Courier-Gazette, the dump truck was unstable and caused the pickup driver to lose control...

Man Struck by Cement-Mixer Truck Awarded $1.95 Million

Posted on August 18, 2008
A man who was struck by a cement-mixer truck while working on his disabled vehicle has been awarded $1.95 million from a Maryland jury, the Baltimore Sun reports. In 2005, Robert L. Howard, a truck driver with Goodwill Industries, was standing outside his disabled vehicle with his assistant, Errol Johnson...

Truck Weights and Lengths are Considered by House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on

Posted on August 12, 2008
Last month, a House subcommittee held a hearing that examined the impact of existing truck weight and length regulations on safety, highway infrastructure, and interstate commerce. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure received testimony on July 9...

Sick Truckers Cause Deadly Crashes

Posted on July 23, 2008
When a driver behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck blacks out, goes into a diabetic altered state of consciousness, suffers a seizure or experiences a heart attack, the consequences are deadly. Unfortunately, far too many sick bus and truck drivers are on the road every day, placing innocent motorists in harm?s way...

Semi Barrels into Cars on St. Louis missouri Highway

Posted on July 16, 2008
The scene of a deadly tractor trailer crash on a major St. Louis highway was a motorist?s nightmare. A tractor-trailer that didn?t slow down for a line of cars stopped in highway traffic mowed down everything ? and everyone - unlucky to be trapped in the semi?s path...

Parents Demonstrate at Fatal Truck Crash Site

Posted on July 09, 2008
On July 9, 2007, Julieanne Kriens was on her way to an internship interview at Rockford College. The 20-year-old from Antioch, Ill. was driving on Route 173, a two-lane highway. Trucks in front of her were stopped in order to make a left-hand turn. Kriens also stopped...

Trucking Firm Head Faces Charges

Posted on July 03, 2008
Last month, one person was killed and four others were injured when a dump truck crashed into a parked bus in Chinatown. Now, the president of the New Jersey business that owns the dump truck is facing criminal charges, the New York Times reports. In ?Charge Filed Against Chief of Truck Firm After Crash,? reporter Al Baker writes that 30-year-old Osleivy Gomez, the president of C...

Hi-Tech Devices in Truck Crash Cases Mined for Information

Posted on June 25, 2008
Tractor-trailers are loaded with hi-tech devices. Computers, on-board data recorders, electronic logging devices and GPS systems can track speed, hard-braking and maintenance. As Lawyers Weekly USA reporter Sylvia Hsieh points out in, ?Tech devices leave trail of evidence in trucking litigation,? the information is a boon for lawyers who represent truck crash victims...

Rules for Semi Trucks Aim to Keep Motorists Safe

Posted on June 17, 2008
Large commercial trucks, also known as 18-wheelers, semis, and tractor-trailers, account for more than their share of serious injuries and traffic deaths on America's highways. According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis , large trucks are responsible for 12 percent of all traffic fatalities, even though only 3 percent of all registered vehicles are trucks and trucks account for only 7 percent of vehicle miles traveled...

Trucker Sentenced to Prison for Falling Asleep, Killing 7 Kids

Posted on June 13, 2008
A truck driver who fell asleep behind the wheel of his semi and killed seven children has been sentenced to seven years in prison -- one year for each child, The Florida Times-Union reports in an article written by Paul Pinkham. In January 2006, Alvin Wilkerson was 25 miles into an 85-mile trip hauling bottled water for Crete Carrier Corp...

Trucks Yanked Off the Road after Surprise Inspections

Posted on June 12, 2008
Thirty-nine dangerous trucks were taken off the road last week after the Nebraska State Patrol conducted surprise inspections in Grand Island. Troopers pulled over commercial trucks at six sites on June 11. The aim was to inspect in-town trucks that rarely, if ever, go through weigh stations...

Trucker Charged with DUI

Posted on June 11, 2008
A trucker who crashed her semi and spilled aluminum onto an interstate in Nashville was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. The accident occurred June 10 on eastbound Interstate 40. According to WSMV (Ch. 4), Nashville, the truck driver didn?t notice a curve in the highway...

Greyhound Bus Crashes and Overturns in Indiana

Posted on June 04, 2008
On Tuesday, a Greyhound bus carrying 42 people flipped onto its side and injured more than two dozen people, the Daily Herald reports. Darren P. Duke, 46, was driving the bus as the time of the accident. Police suspect the driver fell asleep. According to the news article, the bus drifted onto the gravel, fishtailed, then overcorrected...

Semi Strikes and Kills Illinois Worker

Posted on June 02, 2008
An East St. Louis, Ill. highway worker was killed Monday morning when a semi plowed through a construction site, Fox 2-St. Louis reports. The 39-year-old worker, Cedric Gasper, was sitting on the rear bumper of a white pickup truck when a semi barreled through several orange, construction zone barrels set up on Highway 15 and Green Mountain Road in Belleville...

Missouri Trucker Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Truck Accident

Posted on May 29, 2008
A truck driver who drifted across the center line and collided head on with a car was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a jury, the Rolla Daily News reports. On March 22, 2002 Patrick Wayne Zullig of Rolla, Mo. was driving his truck west on Missouri Route 72...

Illinois Trucker Dies in Crash

Posted on May 29, 2008
A trucker from Illinois died last week in a three-truck pileup on Indiana 49. The accident occurred on the morning of May 27. Mark Flock was behind the wheel of an empty tractor-trailer when he slammed into the back of semi hauling three steel coils. The force of the crash sent the semi with the steel coils over a concrete median and into a box truck, shearing the cabin of the box truck away from the trailer...

Trucking Company Involved in Accident Broke Safety Rules

Posted on May 26, 2008
When a dump truck crashed into a school bus earlier this month, 16-year-old Daniel Wood died. Ten students and the bus driver were also injured in the collision that occurred near Falmouth, Ky. Now it appears that XXL Trucking, the company that owned the dump truck, violated eight federal and state safety regulations...

Semi Trucks Raise Safety Concerns for St. Louis Motorists

Posted on May 22, 2008
Big rigs barreling down St. Louis area highways pose dangers to motorists who share the road with them. According to a recent investigative report on KMOV-4 St. Louis, inattention, bad brakes, poor maintenance and long driving hours are just a few of the many violations law enforcement officers uncovered in the metropolitan St...

Semi Truck Overturns--Trucker Killed

Posted on May 19, 2008
A truck driver was killed around midnight last night when his semi overturned, rolled down an embankment and caught fire, the Kansas City Star reports. The tractor trailer was headed southbound on Interstate 435 in Kansas City. After rolling down the embankment, the semi stopped near Raytown Road which remained closed to rush hour traffic this morning so that crews could inspect a nearby bridge for structural damage...

Trucker Swipes State Trooper

Posted on May 14, 2008
State Police are searching for a hit-and-run trucker who sideswiped a trooper on May 13, the Roanoke Times reports. Trooper Jeff Rasnick had pulled over a tractor-trailer for speeding. He was sitting in his unmarked car that was parked on the shoulder of Interstate 81 when another semi ran off the right side of the road, slammed into his door and kept on driving...

Driver Who Struck Pedestrian Receives Four-Year Sentence

Posted on May 12, 2008
In early May, a Missouri man who struck and killed a Branson County public works employee after he lost control of his car was sentenced to four years in prison, the Branson Daily News reports. According to the article written by reporter Mindy Honey, on Aug...

Truck Drivers Reckless Conduct Paved Way for Punitive Damages

Posted on May 05, 2008
A recent ruling by a Missouri federal judge makes clear that reckless truck drivers and the companies that hire them will face punitive damages when their conduct hurts and kills innocent motorists. Truck driver George Albright Jr. was an employee of a staffing company known as Trucker?s Plus...

Illinois Truck driver killed on I-70 in Chain Reaction Crash

Posted on May 04, 2008
An Illinois truck driver was killed on Interstate 70 when he was thrown from his cab during a chain reaction crash that shut down the Interstate. The series of crashes started on eastbound I-70 near Watkins on Thursday afternoon. The highway was eventually shut down in both directions because of the four separate sets of accidents...

Bill Would Allow Heavier Trucks on Missouri Highways

Posted on April 29, 2008
A bill that would permit heavier tractor-trailers on some Missouri highways is winding its way through the Missouri General Assembly. The bill, SB761, would allow semis weighing as much as 85,500 pounds to use U.S. 65 and U.S. 36 highways. Currently, trucks can weigh no more than 80,000 pounds in order to use the roadways...

Chicago Truck Crash kills Two and Injuries Twenty One People

Posted on April 28, 2008
A truck driver who killed two women and injured 21 people ? including four children ? received a negligent driving citation as a result of the crash, the Chicago Tribune reports. The deadly crash occurred on April 25 shortly after 5 p.m. in Chicago. A tractor-trailer driven by Don Wells, 64, careened off the Dan Ryan Expressway and slammed into a Chicago Transit Authority train station...

Trucker Sentenced to Prison in St. Louis for Hit and Run

Posted on April 17, 2008
A St. Louis County judge sentenced a truck driver who drove off after he hit and killed a tow truck operator to four years in prison, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. On April 30, 2007, Christopher Cottrell of Fenton was driving a heavy equipment rig on Interstate 70 in Des Peres...

Southern Illinois' Deadliest Roads

Posted on April 13, 2008
The Southern Illinoisan recently ran a three-day series on motor vehicle accidents in Southern Illinois. The series concluded that Illinois 37 is the deadliest roadway and Illinois 149 comes in third. According to the article titled ?Countless lives changed forever,? more than 200 people have been killed in the past decade on Southern Illinois? deadliest highways...

Truck Checkpoints Uncover Hundreds of Violations

Posted on April 10, 2008
Truck drivers were found to be in violation of multiple laws. Last week, the Nebraska State Patrol conducted surprise inspections on trucks traveling on Omaha roads. According to NBC-affiliate WOWT-6, law enforcement officials checked trucks weighing from one to 50 tons...

Truck-Only Lanes Aim to Ease Congestion

Posted on April 04, 2008
Large trucks and tractor trailers use Interstate 70 which runs through Missouri and Illinois and is a central corridor for trucks traveling east or west. To ease traffic congestion on Interstate 70, the Missouri Department of Transportation submitted a proposal to add four truck-only lanes on the heavily traveled highway...

Judge Sentences Truck Driver to 4 Years in Prison

Posted on April 04, 2008
An Illinois truck driver whose semi slammed into the back of a tour bus killing eight women was sentenced to four years in prison last Thursday. On Oct. 1, 2003, Vincente Zepeda?s 76,000-pound semi slammed into the back of a 25-passenger tour bus near a toll plaza...

Unsafe Trucks Ordered Off the Road

Posted on April 03, 2008
A surprise safety inspection of commercial trucks last week by the Dallas police found more than a third of the 23 big rigs pulled over for failed the test, CBS 11 News reports. The inspections were conducted on Interstate 20 after a series of deadly accidents involving tractor trailers occurred in Dallas...

Two St, Louis Women Die in Illinois Truck-Car Crash

Posted on April 03, 2008
Two women were killed in Illinois and a third was critically injured when their car crossed over interstate 55-70 into the path of a tractor trailer, according to the Illinois State Police. The accident occurred on eastbound Interstate 55-70, just before Interstate 64 splits heading east...

St. Louis Truck Driving School Accused of Accepting Bribes in Exchange for Commercial Drivers Licenses

Posted on April 01, 2008
A St. Louis truck driving school that allegedly engaged in a bribing and testing scheme to ensure their students passed the commercial driving test, trial began on Monday. Mustafa Redzic, the owner of Bosna Driving School, allegedly promised his students -- many of whom were Bosnian immigrants -- that they?d be able to obtain a commercial drivers license in a few days rather than several weeks, that their ability to read English would not be a problem and even that a lack of driving skill wouldn?t stand in the way...

Three Children in Missouri Die after Semi Rear-Ends Car

Posted on March 24, 2008
A semi tractor trailer rear ended a car killing three young girls last week. The semi rammed into the back of a car that had stopped for highway construction. The accident occurred on U.S. 63 in Phelps County, Mo. The girls, 11-year-old Christel Miess, five-year-old Gracey Miess and their infant sister Gaberielle Miess were riding in the back seat of a Ford Tempo...

Dump Truck and Semi Involved in Head-On Crash In Missouri

Posted on March 18, 2008
In Springfield Missouri a dump truck and tractor-trailer were involved in an early morning collision that left one man dead, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The accident occurred at about 5:15 am on March 18, five miles north of Springfield, Mo...

Three in Illinois Killed in Crash Caused by Truck Driver who Fell Asleep

Posted on March 06, 2008
A truck driver who allegedly fell asleep while behind the wheel is to blame for causing a crash that killed three people, the Rockford Register Star reports. The accident occurred on Dec. 27. William Hinds was driving a tractor trailer on Interstate 3 when he fell asleep at the wheel...

Truck Crash-Fatigue May Have Played a Role in Trucker's Impalement

Posted on March 06, 2008
An Illinois truck driver was fatally impaled last week by a fence post when his semi veered off the highway, the Associated Press reports. The accident happened on March 4 south of Indianapolis on Interstate 65. Elvin Stanley, a 47-year-old truck driver from Chicago, left the road around 1 am...

Dangerous Railroad Crossing in Columbia Missouri Claims Two More Victims

Posted on March 03, 2008
Tractor trailers caring hazardous material must stop at railroad crossings. This has resulted in accidents at a rail crossing in Columbia Missouri. e most recent accident was last Friday. A northbound tractor-trailer stopped at the crossing and then was moving slowly over the tracks when it was struck from behind by Subaru station wagon...

Tired Truckers Investigated

Posted on February 27, 2008
Tired truck drivers are a real safety hazard investigation reveals. This week, WISH-TV 8 in Indianapolis aired its investigation of tired truck drivers. What they found further confirms that tired truckers are a safety hazard. Reporter Rick Dawson noted that truck drivers are under pressure to drive as long as possible and make faster deliveries...

Missouri Bus Accident Caused by Fatigue and Speeding

Posted on February 26, 2008
Tired truck drivers aren?t the only ones who cause accidents. Fatigue also plays a role in bus crashes. On July 13, 2005, a tour bus carrying members of Eminem?s Anger Management 3 Tour rear-ended a tractor trailer on westbound I-70 near Odessa, Missouri...

Truck Accidents Frequently Caused by Driver Fatigue

Posted on February 24, 2008
Truckers who drive under the influence or while intoxicated are a danger to the motorists who share the road with them. Just as deadly are truckers who drive while drowsy. According to an article in the Red Bluff Daily News, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that driver fatigue is to blame for 30 to 40 percent of accidents involving commercial trucks in North America...

Truckers Hours-of-Service Rule Extended

Posted on February 16, 2008
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced on Feb. 15, the that the public comment period on truck drivers' hours-of-service interim final rule was extended until March 17, 2008. The interim rule would allow trucking companies and their drivers up to 11 hours of driving time within a 14-hour, non-extendable window from the start of the work day, followed by 10 consecutive off-duty hours...

Lawsuit filed against two trucking companies and their drivers

Posted on February 13, 2008
St. Louis ? A lawsuit arising from a chain-reaction accident on Interstate 70 in Indiana that injured two motorists has been filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Indiana. On Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005, around 9:25 p.m., Giacamo Amari, 42, and his son Jonathan Ghahary, 21, were traveling in a car headed east on I-70 near Richmond, Ind...

Regulations Regarding Truck Driver New Hours of Service-- Comment Period to End Soon

Posted on February 10, 2008
The number of hours a truck driver in interstate commerce can drive is governed by the federal hours of service regulations. The comment period on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration?s interim rule on the hours-of-service regulation will end on Feb...

Rule would force new truckers into training class

Posted on January 29, 2008
A federal rule proposed on Dec. 26 would force new interstate truck drivers to complete classroom and behind-the-wheel training before they?re allowed to receive a commercial license. The proposal would require truck drivers to receive 120 hours of training, including 44 hours behind the wheel, from an accredited program before they would receive a license...

Missouri House Bill Mandates Slower Speeds for Trucks in Missouri

Posted on January 25, 2008
Truck accidents are frequently caused by speeding trucks. Forcing trucks to slow down, especially in Kansas City, St. Louis and rural highways in Missouri is the aim of one bill currently pending before the Missouri General Assembly. Introduced by House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence, the bill would require tractor trailers to drive ten miles below the posted speed limit on rural interstates, highways, in construction zones and on freeways passing through downtown Kansas City and St...

Trucker Driver Under the Influence of Cocaine and Marijuana Who Hit State Trooper Sentaced to Jail Time

Posted on January 21, 2008
The truck driver, who tested positive for marijuana and cocaine. According to his log books, the truck driver had not taken off enough time from driving before the accident occurred. The truck driver who struck and injured the state trooper during a traffic stop was sentenced by a Minnesota judge to nine months in jail last week, the St...

Missouri Truck Accident Closes I-70

Posted on January 15, 2008
An accident in Missouri involving a semi truck closed a portion of Interstate 70 to traffic Sunday night according to Missouri State Highway Patrol. Interstate 70 was closed for about two hours while officials worked to clear the roadway. The accident occurred when a 2007 Mazda was blocking both westbound lanes of the interstate...

Winning Truck Accident Cases--The Key is to Find Violations of Federal Motor Carrier Regulations

Posted on January 13, 2008
Tractor trailer accidents involve complex issues and require knowledge of Federal Regulations applicable to trucking companies. In order to win you need to prove that the truck driver or trucking company was negligent. Negligence is defined as the truck driver's failure to use reasonable care that a careful and prudent truck driver would use in the same or similar circumstances...

Missouri Bridge Rebuilt After Tanker Truck Crash

Posted on January 07, 2008
In Jefferson City Missouri, crews worked night and day for five weeks, even through an ice storm, to reopen a bridge that was destroyed in a fiery tanker truck crash, the Associated Press reports. The bridge had to be torn down, redesigned and then rebuilt after the Nov...

Illinois Semi Demolishes Patrol Car on New Year?s Eve

Posted on January 07, 2008
A tractor trailer demolished a patrol car stopped on highway on New Year?s Eve, the only damage to the semi was a flat tire and a bent rim, the Quad-City Times reports. The squad car was empty at the time of the collision and, fortunately, there were no injuries...

Fatal Bus Crash Puts Spotlight on Bus Safety

Posted on January 07, 2008
The safety records of both the owner and the operator of a bus that overturned earlier this month in Texas, killing one and injuring 45 passengers, have come under close scrutiny. A story in the Houston Chronicle reports that Capricorn Bus Lines, the owner of a bus that rolled over on Jan...

Illinois Truck Accident Victim's Family Awarded $10 million in Suit Filed over Teen's Death

Posted on January 03, 2008
A farm truck failed to stop at an intersection and struck the Jeep killing a fifteen year old passenger in the jeep resulted in the teen's family being awarded $10 million by an Illinois judge, the Southern Illinoisan reports. Saline County Circuit Judge Ron Eckiss handed down the award late last month to compensate for the ?significant loss of society? sustained by the survivors...

18 Wheeler Speeding in Illinois Construction Zone Kills Three

Posted on January 02, 2008
A semitrailer truck that failed to slow down for an Illinois construction zone triggered a chain-reaction crash that killed at least three people in rural Illinois, the Rockford Register Star reports. The accident occurred two days after Christmas on southbound Interstate Hwy...

Missouri Bans Big Rigs from Portion of I-70

Posted on January 02, 2008
Big trucks will be banned from using the far left lane of Interstate 70 through St. Charles County, starting January 1, 2008. The prohibition covers a six-mile stretch that begins at Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters and ends at Zumbehl Road in St...

Fatal Truck Crash Results in $36.3 million Verdict

Posted on December 07, 2007
A tractor-trailer owned by Swift Transportation in April 2004 killing the driver of a Suburban when the truck driver drove 65 mph across three sets of rumble strips which were designed to warn of an approaching stop sign, and then ran the stop sign. Under Federal Regulations all truck drivers and trucking companies are required to keep a log of the number of hours the truck driver has driven to comply with the Federal Hours of Service Regulations...

Missouri Truck Driver Who Fell Asleep at the Wheel Caused Truck Accident

Posted on December 02, 2007
A tractor-trailer driver from Missouri caused a crash when he fell asleep at the wheel due to apparent fatigue. The truck hit the concrete guardrail of a bridge over some railroad tracks which caused the trailer to fishtail and the trailer and cab to go over the side of the bridge as well...

Truck Driver Hours of Service Interim Regulations Will be Coming out Soon

Posted on November 29, 2007
Truck Accidents have been linked to driver fatigue. There have been studies that demonstrate that the number of accidents involving trucks increase dramatically between the !0th and 11th hour of the truck driver's shift. The Federal Court of Appeals used these studies to invalidate the The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") regulations allowing truck drivers to drive those extra hours...

Illinois Tractor Trailer Driver who Crashed Into Tour Bus Killing Eight on Trial for Eight Counts of Reckless Homicide

Posted on November 29, 2007
A Chicago Illinois truck driver on October 1, 2003 crashed into a small tour bus killing eight woman all from the Chicago area. Accident reconstructionists estimated that the truck driver was traveling more than 60 mph in a 45 mph constructions zone...

Truckers can Easily Cheat on Drug Tests

Posted on November 04, 2007
In all accidents involving trucks, the truck driver is required to submit to an alcohol and drug test. In my experience, truck drivers have been driving under the influence of stimulants like methamphetamine, Benzedrine, adderall, cocaine, and some are driving under the influence of alcohol...

Truck Driver Drug Testing Results are Easily Falsified

Posted on November 03, 2007
http://www.jefflowepc.com/lawyer-attorney-1182209.html Truck drivers, are required to undergo drug testing, however, the Government Accountability Office discovered rampant problems in drug testing for commercial truck drivers. The investigators found that the testing was avoided so easily that officials were surprised that anyone would ever fail a test...

Truck and Car Accidents-Ideas to Make Interstates Safer for Cars

Posted on November 01, 2007
As you drive down I-70 through Missouri and Illinois through St. Louis, Kansas City, and other cities along the way, if you think I-70 is too congested with Trucks and Tractor Trailers you're not alone. That stretch of I-70, averages daily traffic for cars and trucks ranges from 45,000 to 250,000 vehicles...

Truck Accident Wrongful Death Case Results in $19.2 Million Damages Verdict

Posted on October 31, 2007
A tractor trailer that rear ended a car resulted in a $19.2 million jury verdict. The force of the collision threw the car into the path of an oncoming cement truck, which slammed into the victim?s vehicle. The driver died from his injuries at the scene...

Trucks and Truck Driver Fatigue can Pose Serious Dangers to Cars Traveling the Nations Highway With Them

Posted on October 30, 2007
Truck drivers spend an enormous amount of time behind the wheel of their eighteen wheelers each week, and truck driver fatigue is a major factor in the cause of truck accidents. The length of time that a truck driver can spend behind the wheel trying to make it to his or her destination on time has long been a topic of debate in the trucking industry...