Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

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Earlier this month, an appellate court issued a written opinion in a terrible trucking accident that claimed the life of one man and left his family with serious emotional and physical injuries. The case illustrates the level of carnage truck accidents can cause and also the types of claims Alabama truck accident victims can pursue in the wake of an accident.

The Facts of the Case

The plaintiffs in the case were several surviving family members who lost their loved one when he crashed into the back of a semi-truck that was traveling 15-18 miles per hour on the highway. The man’s son happened to be passing by the scene of the accident and recognized his father’s vehicle. The man’s son attempted to rescue his father but was unable to do so, and he sustained serious burns as a result of his rescue efforts. When the man’s wife found out about her husband’s death, she broke down and had to be hospitalized. She was unable to return to work as a result of her worsening depression.

The family members sued the defendant truck driver, that is, the estate brought claims under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and the Illinois rescue doctrine, and the estate was successful in obtaining a jury verdict in their favor. The trucking company appealed, making several arguments on appeal, but the court affirmed the verdict in favor of the family.

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In a recent case, Alabama’s supreme court considered an Alabama truck accident case in which the jury found in favor of the plaintiff after a woman was killed after colliding with a tree on the side of an Alabama road.

The Trial

According to the plaintiff’s complaint, the plaintiff alleged that two employees of the defendant’s company were driving separate dump trucks when one of the trucks caused the woman’s truck to leave the road, where she collided with a tree and died. The woman’s estate brought a lawsuit against the employer, based on the negligence of either of the employees.

At trial, a witness testified that on the day of the crash, a white dump truck passed him traveling in the opposite direction, that the white dump truck operated by the defendant’s company was not entirely within its lane, and that he had to move over to allow the truck to pass safely.

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Earlier this month, a grand jury returned an indictment in a case brought against a truck driver who ran head-on into another vehicle carrying a family of five. According to a recent news report covering the case, the Alabama truck accident resulted in the driver being indicted for criminally negligent homicide.Evidently, the truck driver told police that he had swerved to avoid a dog that ran in front of his truck. However, there was no evidence that the truck driver swerved or braked immediately prior to the collision. At the time of the accident, the driver was working for a trucking company based out of Columbus. The grand jury heard evidence that the driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the collision and that speed was not a factor.

In addition to the criminal charges brought by the State of Alabama, surviving family members have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the truck driver. The results of both cases are still pending.

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