Denver Personal Injury Lawyer - Tractor-Trailer Accidents

Semi Collides With Van And Catches Fire

Chrissie Cole — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:46:00 GMT

A tractor-trailer fire closed down Westbound Interstate 70 near Floyd Hill for at least two hours as authorities worked to clean up the accident.

According to Colorado State Patrol, a van hit a deer around 5:00 a.m. and had stopped in the middle of the highway. The tractor-trailer struck the van and caught fire.

One man was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure. No one was seriously injured.

ACDOT spokesman, said debris was strewn about the road and cleanup was expected to take a few hours.

Early morning travelers were forced to use U.S. Highway 6 to get to the mountains due to the accident.

Visit our Tractor-Trailer Help Center to learn practical steps to keep your family safe and how to avoid accidents while on the road.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Truck Driver Charged With Careless Driving

Chrissie Cole — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:25:00 GMT

A Nebraska man, 34, lost his life on Friday night when his car struck an overturned tractor-trailer in Yuma County.

According to Trooper Gilbert Mares of the Colorado State Patrol, a tractor-trailer went off the right side of Highway 34, over-corrected and rolled onto its side.

Tim Steinbeck of Haigler, Neb., was traveling west in a Pontiac Sunfire when he struck the truck’s trailer. Steinbeck was pronounced dead at the scene, Mares said.

The driver of the truck, Jennie V. Suhr, 75, of Iowa was not injured. She is being charged with one count of careless driving causing death.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing to determine if alcohol was a factor. “The use of alcohol may have been contributed by the deceased; however, officials are unsure,” Mares said.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Fatigue a Factor in Another Semi-Truck Accident

Linda Snyder — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:56:03 GMT

Troopers say 54-year-old James Strauss of Oklahoma City, Okla., was driving east in a fully-loaded semi-truck on I-70, when his vehicle went off the right side of the highway, between an embankment and a guardrail.

The semi-truck then rolled onto its right side and slid down an embankment where it struck the concrete support pillar under I-70, leaving it entangled within the remaining support pillars under the overpass, according to the state patrol.

Troopers say alcohol, drugs and speed are not suspected to have contributed to the crash. However, they believe driver fatigue contributed to the crash.

CDOT says Strauss sustained serious injuries and was airlifted from the scene and brought to Aurora South. James Strauss is lucky to be alive.

Last month, a CBS4 investigation found that semi-truck drivers are blatantly falsifying their service logs and violating the Hours of Service regulations.

At Bachus & Schanker, LLC we have seen the devastating outcome that semi-truck accidents has on families.

Consider these statistics for 2006 from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:
4,732 Large Trucks Involved in Fatal Crashes
4,995 Fatalities in Crashes Involving Large Trucks
135,741 Large Trucks in Non-Fatal Crashes
57,213 Large Trucks involved in Injury Crashes
85,984 Injuries in Crashes Involving Large Trucks

According to CBS4 reporter Rick Sallinger, truckers told him "cheating is common practice, everybody does it". But yet, The Colorado Motor Carriers Association claims the "vast majority" of truckers do not falsify their logs. They claim improved safety figures prove their point. What does that really mean? There is an estimated over 3.3 million semi truck drivers in the U.S. A "vast majority" could mean any where from 51% to 99.9% don't falsify their logs. What that means is anywhere from 1.67 million to 33,000 truckers are falsifying their logs. I don't find those numbers particularly comforting. It's kind of like saying Russian Roulette isn't that dangerous because there aren't bullets in all of the chambers.

Accidents can happen. There are careless car drivers, there are people not paying attention because they're on their cell phone. There's a moose in the road. Hazardous road conditions, brake failure, tire blow outs to name a few more. But, the idea of my friends, family or myself driving next to one of the "few" truckers who loses control of his 80,000 pound vehicle due to slower reaction time compounded by fatigue is frightening. What if you had been drivning next to James Strauss on Sunday?

I can't put the blame entirely on the semi-truck drivers. I would argue that most truckers are decent people just trying to make a living. I would argue that the majority of responsibility lies with the trucking companies. Most semi-truck drivers are paid based on miles driven not hours driven and with the pressure deliver their goods on time, drivers are put in a no-win situation.

We need to hit truckers and the trucking companies where it hurts the most, their pocketbooks. Legislators on the state House and Senate transportation committees are considering stiffer penalties. No doubt the rising cost of fuel is putting the squeeze on the trucking companies' profits, but it seems the trucking companies are putting their profit before our safety.

James Strauss was lucky this time. And we were lucky this time. How long will our luck hold?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Linda Snyder

Semi-Truck Nearly Breaks Apart in Collision

Chrissie Cole — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 02:01:34 GMT

In a trucking accident, Thursday, a semi-truck crashed with such extreme force that it nearly broke apart and sent wreckage flying over a half mile radius of the accident location.

"This is one of the worst accidents involving vehicular damage I have witnessed in over 27 years of response to Interstate accidents," Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief said.

The accident happened at approximately 11:20 pm. at mile marker 208. The driver was so seriously injured in the crash that he couldn't give officials a statement. One witness said it appeared that the driver had missed the lower runaway truck ramp prior to the crash. The roadway was dry at the time of the crash.

Debris was strewn about the westbound lanes and was even thrown over the median and into the eastbound lanes. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

According to another witness, the truck driver managed to barely crawl out of the remains of the semi-trailer cab. He was treated for burns on most of his upper body. He was transported to Summit Medical Center and then airlifted to University Burn Center of Denver.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole