Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

This case involves the danger of 18-wheelers backing up without a warning alarm. By now, back-up alarms are a common feature on all kinds of vehicles and equipment. The reason they are so common is simple. They work. The alarms are very good at preventing injuries. However, the trucking companies haven't always followed suit with the latest in safety technology.

In this case, a 55-year old warehouse worker's pelvis was crushed, his ureter was severed, and he had to undergo a colostomy because a tractor trailer without a back-up alarm crushed him between the trailer and a loading dock. There was an apparent miscommunication between the worker and the truck driver. According to the warehouse worker and an expert forensic engineer, the worker would never have been hurt if there had been a back-up alarm. The tractor trailer and its equipment were therefore unreasonably dangerous and defective because there was no back-up alarm. The worker had $715,000 in medical costs, and $250,000 in income losses.

At trial, the members of the jury evaluated the evidence and agreed that the cause of the worker's injuries was the missing back-up alarm. They found that the truck and its equipment were unreasonably dangerous, and awarded $14,000,000 in damages for the warehouse worker's losses.