Personal Injury Law

Man Struck by Cement-Mixer Truck Awarded $1.95 Million

By Jeffrey Lowe

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. A cement mixer owned by Lafarge Mid-Atlantic and driven by Anthony Schulman struck both men. Johnson was killed and Howard was severely injured.

Schulman, who has a lengthy criminal past which includes drug and theft convictions, drove off claiming he was unaware he had hit anyone. Schulman later pleaded guilty to negligent driving.

Howard sued both LaFarge and Schulman for negligence. Last month, an Anne Arundel County jury awarded Howard $1.95 million including $1.83 million for pain and suffering which will be capped at $650,000. (Schulman and LaFarge reached a settlement with Johnson's family in March.)

When a bystander, pedestrian or motorist is injured by a commercial truck, it is important to contact an experienced trucking accident attorney immediately.

An experienced trucking accident attorney knows that commercial truck drivers and trucking companies are subject to special statutes and regulations. Truck drivers must obtains special licenses and training and undergo driving reviews and background employment checks. A number of laws require truckers and their employers to keep certain records that can be critical in prosecuting truck cases. Truck movements are often tracked with the use of global positioning systems. In some cases the actual truck movements recorded by GPS don?t sync up with the logbooks a trucker maintains. Black-box data often contains information on the truck in the time leading up to the crash. Knowing how to gain access to and interpret the information is important because truck accidents are harder to defend and easier to win for plaintiffs.

The victims of trucking accidents and their families need a level playing field, and the best way to get this is to find an attorney who can protect their interests. The Lowe Law Firm has investigators who can on the case within hours of a crash. Our staff will see to it that critical crash evidence is safeguarded and not destroyed. Our lawyers are experienced with trucking companies and insurance carriers and in trying cases against them.

If you have been hurt or a loved one has been hurt or died as a result of a truck driver's carelessness, contact The Lowe Law Firm Missouri/Illinois trucking-accident lawyers online or by calling 877-678-3400.

Full post as published by Trucking Accident Attorney Blog on August 18, 2008 (boomark / email).