Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

The South Carolina Solicitors’ Association has honored two Midlands prosecutors with the group's highest award.

The recipient for General Sessions Court is Rick Hubbard. Rick is Deputy Solicitor in Donnie Myers' 11th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office. The 11th Circuit includes Edgefield County, Lexington County, McCormick County, and Saluda County. Rick has served in that office since 1994, and has prosecuted drug and violent crimes, along with notorious murder cases.

Don Zelenka, who is Assistant Deputy Attorney General, won from the Attorney General’s Office in Columbia. Don is the Chief of Capital and Collateral Litigation at the AG's Office, where he supervises murder conviction appeals on behalf of the State of South Carolina. Don has argued six cases before the United States Supreme Court and more than 100 cases before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

Continue reading "Lexington and Columbia, South Carolina Prosecutors Honored" »

The Town of Lexington, South Carolina appears to be backing down on its attempts to re-route big rigs away from downtown.

Local merchants have noted a marked increase in noise and damage caused by large trucks passing through downtown in the last few years. A 2003 beautification plan narrowed the roadway on Main Street to make it a more attractive destination. Traffic has increased, but much of it is through traffic, which doesn’t benefit local merchants. The narrowed roads haven’t done a thing to discourage big trucks from cutting through downtown. Sadly, Town leaders appear unable to regulate this traffic problem.

The trouble with trying to re-route heavy trucks is that Main Street in Lexington is a segment of U.S. Highway 1, which stretches from Canada to Key West, so the South Carolina Department of Transportation has the final authority over traffic on this road. Early indications are that SCDOT has discouraged the Town’s request to move truck traffic away from Main Street, citing heavy traffic on the alternate routes.

Continue reading "Lexington, South Carolina's Truck Traffic Problem Not Over" »

On Mother’s Day, 2002, five-year-old Leilani Guitierrez was a passenger in her mother’s Suburban. They were headed home from a carousel ride in Costa Mesa, California.

This innocent little girl’s life was turned upside down by a Defense Department worker’s negligence. The worker ran a red light and broadsided the Guitierrez’s vehicle, sending it careening into a utility pole. The injuries were catastrophic. The bones in Leilani’s neck were crushed.

This little girl will spend the rest of her life – a life that will probably end by the age of 35 – in a motorized wheelchair. She spent 250 days in the hospital and has endured 24 surgeries. Leilani will require complete assistance with all the tasks associated with everyday life - eating, dressing, bathing, and getting into the wheelchair - her only means of moving. She still has her mind, but the functioning of her body was lost forever.

Leilani and her parents filed suit against the government. Like any other employer, the government is responsible for the negligent driving of its employees while they are on official business. The federal district court awarded $54 million in actual damages to Leilani this week. An additional $1 million judgment went to her parents for their own suffering as a result of seeing their child suffer.

As in any case involving a minor, the court will oversee distributions of the funds, to make sure that the funds are spent on medical expenses and related care. Much of the judgment will go to pay past medical expenses.

While this is a large award, I want to point out two aspects of this judgment to those who cry out for so-called “tort reform.” First, this isn’t a case of a run-away jury, because there was no jury. A U.S. District Court judge determined the amount of Leilani Guitierrez’s damages. Second, there were no punitive damages in this case. $23 million of this award is for the proven actual cost of caring for a completely helpless little girl, around the clock ... for the rest of her life. $31 million is to compensate her for her suffering and the loss of opportunity for an ordinary life. Leilani’s case shows why absolute caps on damages are short-sighted. There are instances where an injured person’s actual, proven damages are extraordinarily high. But these are the exception, rather than the rule. The cap argument comes down to a simple question: In an exceptional case, who should bear the extra costs- the victim or the wrongdoer? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but as for me, I’m proud to fight for the victim.

Thanks to the Orange County Register

On September 11, the U.S. Senate rejected, by a wide majority, the attempt by the U.S. Department of Transportation to go forward with a program allowing Mexican truckers to drive big rigs throughout the United States. Senators responded to problems raised in the DOT’s own written findings that there are serious problems with this program. Even with these problems, the DOT had still been pushing forward on the program.

The DOT had been moving forward on the plan, despite the following:

• The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the agency within DOT responsible for regulating truckers, is not ready to implement the program. The FMCSA is still developing important databases for checking Mexican trucking companies, drivers, and vehicles. FMCSA inspectors do not have vital safety information on Mexican vehicle accident reports, driver violations, or even whether truckers have the same insurance required of U.S. drivers. FMCSA’s “plan” for implementing random drug and alcohol specimen testing is to simply trust in the cooperation of Mexican authorities. (Wasn't it Ronald Reagan who said, "Trust, but verify?" Someone needs to remind the DOT to take this advice).

• Several states have told the DOT that they are not prepared to implement the safety aspects of the program. Other states said they cannot enforce the regulations that prevent Mexican truck drivers from making a trip beginning and ending in the U.S. (called cabotage, a prohibited practice). And, half the states do not have procedures in place to enforce key safety and homeland security issues.

• Despite claims to the contrary, the Department is exempting Mexican truck drivers from the physical fitness requirements it applies to U.S. drivers. Although the two countries have very different requirements, DOT calls the fitness requirements “equivalent.” (!)

Clearly, the U.S. is not ready to implement this program.

For me, this isn’t about illegal immigration or job security for U.S. drivers. (Those issues are for others to tackle).

It is about safety. The Mexican trucking industry has a deplorable safety record. If Canadian trucking companies had this sort of record, I would call to keep Canadian drivers out. Until the DOT can verify that the basic public safety protection measures applicable to American drivers apply to Mexican drivers as well, these trucks have no business driving throughout the country.

I have written at length on this blog about just how dangerous tractor trailers are. Those dangers only get worse when truckers and trucking companies ignore the safety rules that protect us on the highways.

Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is taking steps on a program that would seriously erode our safety. Specifically, it appears that the DOT is about to open our border with Mexico, to allow Mexican tractor trailers to travel all over the interstates and secondary roads of the United States. Not only are there serious problems regarding Mexican drivers' English language skills (which they need to read traffic signs), but Mexican drivers currently aren't forced to meet federal safety rules.

Mexican tractor trailers could begin pouring across the border as soon as September 6, 2007.

But, you can help make sure this doesn't happen. I urge you to contact both of your state's U.S. Senators, and ask them to prohibit the DOT from pushing forward on allowing trucks from Mexico to travel throughout the United States. This needs to be included in the Senate's DOT spending bill.

That is the only real way to stop the DOT's plan for unlimited Mexican tractor trailer traffic from moving forward.

To get both of your U.S. Senators' contact information, just go to www.senate.gov, and you will find a place to enter your zip code.

Why the alarm? Here's why:

Mexican truck drivers have very high out of service rates.

Mexican truck drivers on U.S. highways often operate without a drivers license.

Mexican truck drivers in the U.S. often don't have the right driver's license for their truck.

Mexican truck drivers routinely don't comply with U.S. safety rules involving hours of service logbooks and records of duty status.

Mexican trucks in the U.S. have high rates of poor brakes and lights.

Mexico does not require workplace drug and alcohol testing of truck drivers like the U.S. does.

Mexico has no enforced Hours Of Service requirements. Mexican drivers can drive for an unlimited number of hours while in Mexico. They can then drive across the border highly fatigued (which is extremely dangerous) and then keep driving for an additional 11 hours in the U.S. What's worse, there is nothing that our enforcement people can do about it! U.S. officials can't penalize a driver for actions that occurred in Mexico.

And, the list goes on. Take a few minutes today to help prevent this ridiculous practice from going forward.

On Monday afternoon, 35-year-old Kristy Lynn Hutto, of Orangeburg, died at the scene of a collision between her car and a truck on Highway 21, near I-26 in Lexington County, South Carolina. The intersection is not far from the Town of Swansea. Ms. Hutto was driving north on Highway 21, when William Bennett, II's eastbound truck failed to stop at a stop sign and collided into her car. Bennett, who has been charged with failing to yield the right-of-way, was attempting to cross onto the entrance ramp of I-26. Bennett and his passenger received comparatively minor injuries in the wreck, but were transported from the scene to Palmetto Richland Hospital in Columbia. Ms. Hutto was an off-duty employee of American Heritage Ambulance.

We appreciate the reporting of WLTX and WIS regarding this tragedy.

Continue reading "Labor Day Truck Accident Claims the Life of 35-Year-Old Woman" »

At around 11:35 on Wednesday night, 20-year-old Brandon Mullins, of Lexington, South Carolina, was involved in a head-on collision, when a Dodge Stratus ran into Mullins' Toyota Corolla. The wreck took place on Bush River Road in Lexington County. Mullins, who was wearing his seatbelt, died nearly an hour later at the Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia. There was a passenger in Mullins' car who survived with minor injuries, as did the driver of the Dodge Stratus.

Thanks to The State newspaper in Columbia for reporting this sad incident.

Continue reading "Young Lexington, South Carolina Man Dies in Head-On Collision" »