Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

Debra Minder was fatally injured early December 15 in Aiken County, South Carolina as she tried to push her stalled car out of traffic near mile marker 31 on Interstate 20. Ms. Minder, of Eastover, South Carolina, was on the driver’s side of her car, while her fiancé pushed from the rear of the car. They pushed the car, whose hazard lights were reportedly flashing, about four feet out of the roadway before the tanker truck hit her. Kenny Gibbons of Augusta, Georgia, was driving the empty tanker truck owned by Harbin Transport Company, of Sumter, SC. Her fiancé was uninjured, as was her son, who was asleep in the car at the time of the collision. The South Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.

Thanks to AugustaChronicle, the Edgefield Daily and WIS for reporting.

Continue reading "Tanker Truck Hits Driver Pushing Disabled Car Off I-20" »

The South Carolina Highway Patrol has charged Elijah Love of North Augusta, South Carolina, with driving too fast for conditions relating to the incident that closed westbound Interstate 26 in Columbia on Tuesday, December 11. Mr. Love’s tanker truck overturned on the curving overpass interchange between I-26 and I-126. Mr. Love’s truck, which contained acid, lodged against the safety railing, prompting concerns for traffic passing beneath. The Highway Patrol closed all westbound traffic on the two interstates at the wreck location for about 7 hours. Thankfully, authorities report that no acid spilled out of the truck.

Thanks to WIS and The State for reporting.

Continue reading "South Carolina Trucker Who Forced Closure of I-26 Charged" »

It is a horrifying experience when you have been seriously injured in an auto accident, or when a loved one has been lost in a traffic accident fatality. It can be especially traumatic when you don't completely understand where you go from here. There are important steps to take and questions that need to be asked. It is also important to know what not to say and do. These things have a major role in determining the outcome of the legal and insurance claims involved. The reason this is so important is that that outcome can affect you and your family for the rest of your life. Remember, insurance adjusters have special training, and their job ultimately is to protect their employer - the insurance company. Each day, my staff and I help unsuspecting people to avoid being victimized by underhanded insurance tactics - tactics designed to prevent full compensation being paid to people with legitimate claims. Not knowing how to deal with those tactics can destroy your claim for payment of medical bills, for lost income, for physical pain, and for your other losses and harms. To make sure that you are treated fairly, you should get legal advice from an experienced injury attorney right away. In the short term, make sure that you do not give any recorded statements, or sign any insurance company documents before your legal rights have been fully explained to you by an attorney who successfully handles a lot of injury cases.

Continue reading "There Has Just Been a Serious Accident . . . What Now?" »

A wreck in South Carolina involving a tractor trailer can have awful consequences. Big rigs can weigh over 80,000 pounds. The typical four-wheeled car weighs just 3,000 pounds. Because of the massive size of eighteen wheelers, a wreck with one of these monsters can easily cause serious injuries and even fatal results.

When you or a family member is in a wreck with a tractor trailer, your losses and injuries can be devastating. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to recover compensation for your losses by bringing a legal claim against the responsible parties. However, in the case of a tractor trailer wreck, there are unique problems with preserving the evidence. Those problems mean that prompt action is critically important.

Also, there are special laws which regulate the trucking industry. Those special laws are designed to protect the public from the devastating injuries that can result when tractor trailers are not operated extremely carefully. Make sure the South Carolina lawyer you choose is well-versed in the particulars of tractor trailer litigation.

The bottom line is that if truck drivers or trucking companies are careless, awful things result. Eighteen wheelers cause a highly disproportionate amount of highway fatalities. It is extremely important that those who operate trucks are held responsible when they create harm. When they are held responsible, it makes it less likely that the same carelessness will be repeated. That means safer roads for all of us.

Continue reading "Tractor Trailers are a Major Hazard" »

A Sunday evening collision between an SUV and a Toyota Avalon resulted in 9 people being taken to local hospitals. One of the passengers, three year old Jakob Miller of Lexington, South Carolina, died of his injuries at Lexington Medical Center. Our sincere condolences go out to his family. Although the investigation is ongoing, early reports indicate the driver of the Toyota failed to stop at the intersection of Smith’s Pond Road and Two Notch Road, striking the SUV traveling east on Two Notch Road. The toddler was partially ejected from the Toyota.

Thanks to WLTX and WIS for reporting.

Continue reading "Two Car Collision Takes the Life of Gilbert, South Carolina Child" »

Standra Jones, a long-time South Carolina DOT worker and married father of two, was fatally injured when a pickup truck ran off Interstate 26 early Thursday morning, striking him as he supervised a barrier cleaning project. Mr. Jones was rushed to Lexington Medical Center, but doctors were unable to save him. The pickup truck, driven by Robert Cunningham of Gaston, South Carolina, left the westbound I-26 roadway around 5:40 a.m. and ran into an SC DOT truck before hitting Mr. Jones. The pickup truck driver and another SC DOT worker, whose name has not been released, were also injured. The South Carolina Highway Patrol is still investigating the collision.

Thanks to WIS television and The State newspaper for reporting.

Continue reading "South Carolina DOT Maintenance Foreman Perishes" »

Early on Saturday morning, December 1st, a Freightliner truck on I-26 near Orangeburg, South Carolina rear-ended the Suzuki automobile in which Danielle Davis was riding. Ms. Davis, a 21 year old resident of Charlotte, died from her injuries. The driver, Jennifer Davis, and another passenger in the car, Rose Jackson, were injured and transported to a local hospital. The trucker, Willie Davis, was also injured. According to reports, the trucking company is Robin Hood Trucking, of Benson, North Carolina. The Highway Patrol’s Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) is investigating the cause of the wreck.

Thanks to WIS Television and The Orangeburg Times and Democrat for reporting on this tragic story.

Continue reading "Orangeburg, South Carolina Tractor-Trailer Wreck Claims the Life of Young Charlotte Woman" »

A McHenry County, Illinois judge has found Vincente Zepeda guilty of eight counts of negligent homicide and one felony count of failure to inspect his vehicle. The charges stemmed from an October, 2007, incident in which the defendant slammed his 35-ton tractor trailer into the rear of a tour bus near a toll plaza on Interstate 90. The collision caused a chain-reaction crash involving five vehicles in which fifteen others were injured. All eight fatalities were passengers on the tour bus and part of the same women’s cultural group returning home from an outing. The defendant waived his right to a jury, preferring to have a judge hear the evidence in the case. Investigators testified that he failed to notice that his truck’s rear axle brakes were not working and he was travelling 60 m.p.h. in a 45 m.p.h. construction zone at the time of the incident. The judge rejected Zepeda’s testimony that he was travelling slower than investigators reported and that he did everything he could to avoid the collision. Zepeda will lose his driver’s license and face up to five years in prison. Zepeda’s attorney reportedly plans to appeal the decision.

Thanks to ChicagoTribune.com and the Northwest Herald for their reporting.

The trucker at the center of a multiple fatality crash on I-526 on July 14, 2007 faces charges of DUI near his hometown in North Carolina. Bobby Davis was arrested following a November 2 incident in which he went careening over a mailbox and through a yard before crossing the road and crashing into a tree. Investigators have not released the results of tests for Mr. Davis’s blood alcohol concentration. In the July incident, Mr. Davis told investigators a car cut him off, causing him to rear-end a car. His truck went over that car and a van and a fire broke out. Three occupants of the van died. The driver of another car trapped between the truck wreckage and a concrete wall also perished in that collision. For the earlier wreck, Mr. Davis was charged with driving too fast for conditions.

Thanks to the Charleston Post and Courier.

Continue reading "Driver of Deadly July North Charleston Collision Faces Charges in Another Crash" »