Motorcycle Truck Accident

Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

Thirty-seven-year-old Jessica Lyn Wright was killed Monday when her 2009 Ford car was involved in a collision with a tractor trailer and a South Carolina Department of Transportation dump truck. The accident happened on the southbound side of Interstate 85, between the Brockman-McClimon Road and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport exits, near Greer, South Carolina. The collision, which happened at about 9:50 AM, is still under investigation. Ms. Wright was pronounced dead upon her arrival at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center at 10:53 AM. She had been partially ejected from her vehicle, and was airlifted to the hospital from the scene. The tractor trailer driver and the dump truck driver were both uninjured. At the time of the accident, Sixty-six-year-old Charles Ray Smith, of Casar, North Carolina, was driving the tractor trailer, and Twenty-two-year-old James Michael Pridemore, of nearby Inman, South Carolina, was driving the dump truck.

This was the third wreck of the morning along that stretch of I-85, as traffic was backed up throughout the morning hours. One of the earlier wrecks also involved tractor trailers. In that accident, a tractor trailer driver did not slow down in time to avoid traffic ahead of it, ran into a Honda Civic automobile, and then sideswiped another 18-wheeler. The at-fault tractor trailer driver was charged with following too closely.

The cause of the accident which caused the fatality is unknown, and the investigation is still ongoing by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, according to Lance Corporal Bill Rhyne.

At approximately 3:40 AM on Sunday, April 18, a pick-up truck passenger was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, along Interstate 77 in Lexington County, South Carolina. Evidence at the scene indicates that the truck driver was traveling at a high rate of speed. The truck left the road, and flipped several times before stopping. No other vehicles are known to have been involved in the accident. Lexington County Coroner Harry Harman will release the passenger’s name once the deceased’s family has been notified.

South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers are searching for a truck driver who hit another driver on I-77 near Rock Hill. The tractor trailer hit a 63-year-old woman’s car on Friday morning at about 6:30 AM, pushing her through the cable barriers and across the interstate, where she collided with another 18 wheeler.

The first truck driver did not stop after the accident, and instead kept driving. Troopers are searching for a tractor trailer with a black cab and a silver trailer. Witnesses were unable to recall particular logos or markings on the 18 wheeler. The 63 year old and the driver of the second truck were not seriously injured.

Thanks to WSOC television for reporting.

Imagine, one minute driving along the freeway without a care in the world, and the next minute looking in your rear view mirror and seeing nothing but the grill of a semi truck.

Thatas exactly what happened to Carlos Perez of Geneva, New York, on August 21, 2009. Mr. Perez was driving his car with three other passengers, including two children, 12 and 5, on the New York State Thruway. Trucker Ronald J. Constable, Jr. of Earlton, New York was hauling kerosene on the same stretch of road. The trucker came upon Mr. Pereza car which was cruising at 60 M.P.H. in the passing lane. He decided to “coax” Mr. Perez back into the right hand lane by maneuvering his tractor trailer within a few feet of the car. Mr. Perez responded to the tailgating maneuver by reducing the speed of his car. The truck driver then decided to coax Mr. Perez even further by ramming his Kerosene filled truck into the back of the Pereza car several times. Mr. Perez pulled over to the side of the Thruway and Mr. Constable followed. Mr. Constable got out of his truck and approached Mr. Perez who was still seated in his car. He then proceeded to beat and choke Mr. Perez in front of the two children.

At this point a passing trooper saw the incident and stopped. The trucker was charged with felony reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, and harassment.

If anyone needs a reminder about just how dangerous truck accidents can be to the public, read this. On July 15, 2009 in Hazel Park, Michigan, a tractor-trailer exploded under an overpass causing the overpass itself to literally melt and disintegrate. The driver of a car was on a winding section of Interstate 75 when it lost control and spun into a passing semi. The semi was hauling over 13,000 gallons of fuel. It lost control and flipped, causing a second tractor-trailer carrying produce to crash as well.

The fuel tanker collided with an overpass rail, and fuel began to spew out over the highway. The fuel caught fire, sending the truck into explosive flames which began burning the overpass. The heat was so intense that the overpass began to melt and fell on top of the already burning big-rig. The collapse caused another, even bigger explosion according to passersby. Fortunately all three drivers escaped with only minor injuries and no deaths were reported.

Boy, were they lucky. This could easily have been an awful tragedy.

On June 24, 2009 the committee that controls the highway and trucking issues in the U.S. House of Representatives (the House Transportation and Infrastructureas Subcommittee on Highways and Transit) will be reviewing the language contained in the Surface Transportation Act of 2009.

This is a prelude to having the bill passed by Congress later this year. At this point, there is no language included in the bill that would allow increases to truck size and weight. Unfortunately, it appears that Representative Michael Michaud is trying to amend the act to add language that was also included in H.R. 1799 which allowed drastic increased truck weight.

Larger trucks are the last thing we need. They donat stop easily and tip over more frequently. Their already deficient break systems will fail if more weight is added. The heavier trucks will inflict more damage to roadways and bridges. Heavier trucks will require more fuel consumption and create higher pollution levels.

Call your member of Congress today and urge him or her to oppose any increase in the weight of tractor trailers on our highways. They are dangerous enough as it is – as the daily tragedies on the roads attest.

On June 2, 2009, Christine Osterholtz of Lakeland, Florida was heading eastbound on Interstate 4 when she fell asleep. She was traveling in the center lane and her vehicle drifted into the far right lane into the pathway of a tractor trailer being driven by Michael Dacunto of Spring Hill. The impact to the left side of the truck caused both vehicles to slide across the entire breadth of I-4 and land on top of the guardrail separating them from the oncoming traffic. The tractor trailer flipped sideways and landed on top of Christineas car pinning her and her car completely under the truck. Luckily the both drivers were taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center with minor injuries.

According to reports, on June 3, 2009, four construction workers were on the way to their homes in Greenville, South Carolina, when the Ford pick-up they were in veered into oncoming traffic hitting the cab of tractor trailer head on. The collision caused a third vehicle to crash into the back of the big rig which was transporting a backhoe on a lowboy trailer. The driver of the pick-up, Jesus Zamora-Barrera, and his brother Juan died at the scene. Greenville County Deputy Kent Green stated that it appeared Jesus was wearing his seatbelt, but that the point of impact appeared to be the driveras side of the truck. The other two passengers in the pick-up were severely injured and transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital. Fortunately, the driver of the big rig and the third vehicle’ driver both appear to be uninjured.

On May 20, 2009, James Bush of Smyrna, Georgia lost his life when the big rig he was driving side-swiped another 18 wheeler near mile marker 158 in Interstate 20. Mr. Bush worked for the Pepsi Cola Company and was driving westbound on I-20 when he came upon Kenneth Woodfork of Doraville, Georgia, whose truck had broken down in the emergency lane. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush hit the disabled truck and lost control of his vehicle which veered off a steep embankment and then crashed into a stand of trees. It was later determined that Mr. Bush was not wearing his seatbelt and suffered extreme blunt force trauma to his head causing his death. Fortunately Mr. Woodfork only suffered minor injuries.

Two employees were killed and a third injured in an April 22 fueling mishap at Rutland Timber and Trucking, a company near Orangeburg, South Carolina. The employees were using a homemade fuel pump powered by the truckas battery to move diesel fuel from a storage tank to a truck – when a massive explosion was touched off. The Orangeburg County Sheriffas Department and SLED (the State Law Enforcement Division) investigators have since determined that the diesel fuel contained an amount of gasoline. This cleared up one part of the investigation – diesel fuel alone is generally considered incapable of exploding. Still unanswered is how the gasoline came to be mixed with the diesel fuel. Thanks to the Orangeburg Times and Democrat for reporting. Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones in this tragedy.

Two Holly Spring citizens barely escaped death when a dump truck driver lost control and overturned onto their Honda Civic.

Edmund Theodore Jackson, a resident of New Haven, Connecticut, was driving his dump trunk down Davis Road near Farm Pond Road when he lost control and veered off onto the right shoulder. Captain Everett Clendenin of the North Carolina Highway Patrol explained that Jackson then overcompensated and caused the truck to cross the center median into oncoming traffic where Kara Walden Benton was driving with Chad Michael Benton in a Honda Civic. Ms. Benton avoided a head-on collision by driving onto the shoulder of the road but still could not escape the dump truck which then tipped over directly on to the car. Chad Benton was able to quickly escape the vehicle before being treated at WakeMed but Ms. Benton was pinned inside the car for nearly two hours (!) before she was rescued and treated.

As a St. Louis tractor-trailer accident lawyer, I was dismayed but not surprised to see a report about an accident that the Missouri Highway Patrol has attributed to a driver falling asleep at the wheel. According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, an 18-wheeler turned over on Interstate 70 May 9, after the driver fell asleep and drifted off the road. The accident took place at around 2:45 p.m. near mile marker 119, closing eastbound lanes until around 4 p.m. and briefly closing one westbound lane as well. Fortunately, driver Dejaun Green of Maryland suffered only moderate injuries and no one else was hurt. The truck was totaled, according to reports, but no other vehicles were involved.

The Missouri Highway Patrol report said Green, 32, fell asleep at the wheel. Another trucker who happened to be traveling behind Green at the time said he saw Greenas truck easing over to the right more and more as it traveled. Green woke up when his truck hit an embankment, but he overcorrected, causing him to lose control and overturn on the road itself. The truck flipped onto its side, tearing up parts of the embankment and spilling its load of frozen chickens. Passers-by kicked out the front window and cut Greenas seatbelt in an attempt to pull him from the truck, but were not successful until the Highway Patrol arrived at the scene. Emergency crews later cleared the cargo from the road and contained a dangerous fuel spill from the wrecked truck. Though no one else was involved in the crash, a woman stuck in the backed-up traffic suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital.

Falling asleep at the wheel is one of the most serious concerns about truck drivers for Missouri big rig accident attorneys like me. In fact, itas a national concern, which is why the federal government has made rules especially intended to fight driver fatigue. Truckers are often pressured to make delivery schedules that are just not realistic, or that donat allow for the kinds of delays that most drivers find inevitable, for things like traffic or bad weather. If they donat make those schedules, they lose money and may even suffer penalties at work. As a result, some drivers are pressured to drive for long hours every day or skip breaks. This robs them of rest they truly need a rest that can prevent them from becoming so fatigued they canat operate their huge machines safely. Thatas why the federal government requires all truck drivers to conform to specific hours of service.

Unfortunately, itas not uncommon for truckers, or their trucking companies, to falsify their records to make it look at if they complied with their hours of service even when they did not. When truck drivers and their employers break the law, or pressure others to break it, they are legally liable for any injuries or damages that results from the illegal and negligent behavior. That includes all injuries and property damage from the accident itself, all future medical costs, wrongful death damages and other costs. In this case, that could include any injuries created by delays in treatment for the woman who suffered the stroke. If your family suffered this kind of injury because of someone elseas bad decisions a on or off the road a you should call our southern Illinois semi truck accident lawyers right away for a free consultation.

A trucking accident on the northbound lanes of I-495 in Massachusetts near the Mansfield exit, held up traffic in a big way on Thursday, May 3. The Mansfield Fire Department was called out to respond to a semi-truck that had crashed and was leaking diesel fuel near the Mansfield exit. The call came in around 10:36 am. Fire responders found that the truck, a 50-foot-long vehicle, had lodged itself in nearby trees, and the fuel case was cracked and leaking diesel into a nearby stream, according to Fire Chief Boldrighini.

The driver of the semi was trapped in the cab when rescue workers arrived. Emergency crews had to use chain saws to cut the cab open and extricate the driver. He was taken to nearby medical facilities, but his injuries were apparently non life-threatening, according to Boldrighini.

Approximately 200 gallons of fuel had been spilled by the time booms and pads were put in place to contain the flow into the stream.

aDue to their efforts the leak was considered by DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) to essentially be held to a 200-300 foot area only,a said the fire chief.

Response crews, including the Massachusetts Highway Department, had to work diligently to clear away brush and tress that were entangling the truck, allowing wrecker crews to pull the vehicle away. The extrication operation disrupted traffic for several hours, but wasn’t the worst of the problem. Cleanup of the diesel spill with DEP help and expertise was expected to last for several days from the time of the accident. Chemical spills are not easy to clean up and can pose a hazard to the lives of wildlife and people alike, as well as leaving lasting damage to the environment. Truck accidents do far more than hold up traffic or leave behind obvious physical damage — chemical spills are an all to real and all too easy occurrence in such an incident.

Iave written here before, as a Missouri tractor-trailer accident lawyer, about the federal governmentas use of Missouri as an example in its crusade for a nationwide ban on texting while driving. The crash took place in Franklin County in 2010, and was attributed to the actions of a 19-year-old driver who was texting while driving a pickup truck and failed to notice traffic slowing ahead. That triggered a chain-reaction crash in which he slammed into a big rig, then was hit from behind by two school buses taking high schoolers on a band trip. Ultimately, the accident killed the pickup driver and one student, and injured 38 others. The National Transportation Safety Board cited the tragedy when it called for states to ban all texting behind the wheel. But according to a May 5 article from the Associated Press, Missouri itself has repeatedly failed to pass bills that would extend its texting ban to drivers older than 21.

Missourias current law, passed in 2009, applies to drivers 21 and younger. Five Missouri cities have bans for drivers of all ages, siding with 37 states across the U.S. A state representative, Don Wells, R-Cabool, proposed anti-texting legislation in the state House this year, but the measure was not successful. Opponents of that bill argued that drivers can already be charged with violating their obligation for acareful and prudenta driving, so no second law is needed. A spokesman for Missourias state troopers said these arenat the same, noting that officers must be able to see the driver doing something unsafe in addition to texting, and that itas hard to tell at a glance whether a driver is 21 or 22. For those reasons, the state Highway Patrol supports a full ban. The state Senate also debated but is not expected to pass a law banning all distracted driving, but opponents there argued that police officers might abuse it to issue unnecessary tickets.

As a St. Louis semi truck accident attorney, I disagree strongly that tickets issued to distracted drivers are unnecessary. We rely on law enforcement officers to use their judgment every day, about issues like probable cause for a search or whether a driver shows enough signs of intoxication to require a breath test. Surely, if we trust them with these judgment calls, we can also trust them to determine whether a driver is truly distracted or just happens to have a phone lying in the vehicleas center console. Texting while driving is dangerous for everyone, but itas particularly concerning with drivers of large commercial trucks, because those trucks are so large and heavy. One study found that in the time it took to send a text message, a large truck could travel the length of a football field at highway speeds a without the driveras eyes on the road! This behavior endangers every unsuspecting motorist who just happens to be around the texting trucker.

At Carey, Danis & Lowe, we focus our practice on accidents with large trucks because we understand just how dangerous they can be. When vehicles are the same size, both drivers can often walk away from a relatively low-speed crash. When one is many times the size of the other, however, the same crash can cause death or devastating permanent injuries. Our southern Illinois 18-wheeler accident lawyers help clients who were injured in this kind of crash, and their families, recover fair financial compensation from truck drivers and trucking companies whose negligence caused the crash. In a trucking accident lawsuit, injured people and their families can recover all the past and future financial costs of the crash, including the steep cost of long-term care or acute care and a lifetime of lost wages. They can also recover compensation for their personal and emotional losses, such as permanent disability or loss of a loved one.

A collision between a mile-long train and a log-carrying tractor trailer forced a significant detour on South Carolina’s Highway 267. Around 3:30 pm on Monday, the locomotive hit the log truck and dragged it a significant way down the track, causing extraordinary damage.

The train’s engine burst and spilled 2,500 gallons of fuel — the locomotive normally carries 4,500. As of Tuesday morning, the leak was reported as contained and no longer a danger according to emergency response crews and officials.

However, Charleston rescue crews and local firefighters at the scene requested two homes nearest the damaged engine be evacuated as a precaution — the residents obliged. As of Monday, a crane was on route to help extract the truck and the train from the tracks to reopen the crossing.

Concerns about the crash were high, because the train was reportedly carrying dangerous chemicals including cyanide and liquid phosgene. Officials urged people to remain calm, and insisted that the tanks carrying these chemicals were neither damaged nor leaking. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control arrived at the scene shortly after the accident to make sure that no such disaster had occurred.

As mentioned above, a long detour had to be set up to accommodate traffic while the train and truck were being cleared from the site.

This trucking accident serves both as an example of what has happened and what can happen in a serious accident. Shockingly, no one was killed or seriously injured in the collision. Usually tractor-trailer drivers do not survive an impact with a cargo train. However, nearly 3,000 gallons of fuel were spilled, forcing the evacuation of two nearby homes — this spill will require extensive cleanup efforts to make sure residents and wildlife in the area are not harmed in the future. Further, the truck’s collision with the train could very easily have damaged or cracked the tanks containing chemicals even more dangerous than the train’s fuel supply. The story might have read very differently if phosgene or cyanide had been the chemicals spilling toward those two houses.

As a Missouri semi truck accident attorney, I was interested to read a case involving a loss of a dangerous load from the back of a truck. Any load loss can cause havoc on the road, but when large, heavy objects spill out of the back of a truck, they can cause immediate fatal accidents. Of course, the trucker and trucking company responsible for securing the load properly are the ones legally at fault for this kind of accident, and negligent driving can also play a part. In Webster v. Southeast Alabama Timber Harvesting et al., Patricia Gail Webster sued both the timber company and its truck driver over injuries she sustained when timber came loss from their truck. The lawsuit was filed in Chambers County, where the timber company is based, but in this appeal, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered a change of venue to Lee County, where the accident took place.

Webster was driving on Marvyn Parkway in Lee County in February of 2011 when her car collided with timber that came loose from a truck driven by Michael J. Smith. Smith was employed by Southeast Alabama Timber Harvesting, which owned the tractor-trailer. Webster suffered unspecified serious injuries and was treated at a Lee County hospital. Two months later, Webster sued, alleging negligence in the loading of the truck; negligent hiring, training and supervision of Smith; wanton and reckless conduct, and violations of traffic laws. Though the accident had taken place in Lee County, where Webster lived at the time, she filed in Chambers County, where Southeast has its principal office, as Alabama law authorizes. The defendants, however, argued that the case should be moved to Lee County under forum non conveniens, meaning it would be more convenient for parties and witnesses. After a hearing, the trial court denied the motion, triggering the instant appeal.

On appeal, the defendants sought a writ of mandamus ordering the case to Lee County, and the Alabama Supreme Court ultimately granted it, finding the interests of justice required moving the case. The ainterests of justicea test requires the defendants to show that Lee County has a stronger connection to the action than Chambers County. The high court found they met that burden because the only connection the case has to Chambers County is the headquarters of Southeast. The accident took place in Lee County; emergency responders from Lee County helped out after the crash; and the only nonparty eyewitness to the accident also lives in Lee County. The high court dismissed Websteras arguments that forum non conveniens favored the defendantas home county, saying the cases she cited in support are easily distinguishable, while cases she failed to acknowledge are on point. Thus, it granted the writ of mandamus. Justice Murdock dissented, arguing that the high court has misinterpreted the interest of justice test in a way that negates state law.

As a southern Illinois tractor-trailer accident lawyer, I suspect both parties have good reasons for their preferences. For better or for worse, some areas have a reputation for being friendly or unfriendly to defendants in civil lawsuits like this one. Madison County, near our Belleville, Ill. office, is nationally famous as a place where plaintiffs do well, although itas not clear how true that is. If Webster and Southeast both felt that Lee County was friendlier to defendants, itas not surprising that theyad put so much money and effort into supporting or opposing a move there even though the two counties are adjacent. Unfortunately, this decision doesnat resolve the far more important issue of why the truck lost its load in the first place. No matter where the case is tried, as a St. Louis big rig accident attorney, I do not believe a jury will excuse clear negligence by a trucking company that inadequately secured such a dangerous load, or by a driver who was careless with other motoristsa lives.

Once again, a tractor trailer accident has demonstrated that the danger of a semi truck going out of control doesn’t stop when the vehicle does. Instead, it expands depending on how much of the vehicle’s cargo was spilled as a result of the accident.

Early in the first week of May, a tractor trailer overturned in Moon Township, near Beaver Pennsylvania. The accident took place on Moon Township’s University Boulevard in the morning around 9:15.

Moon’s Police Chief, Leo McCarthy, said that the truck was carrying a load of scrap metal. The truck was attempting to make a left turn onto University Boulevard from Stoops Ferry Road. In making the turn, the truck overturned and crashed. The fall sent the truck’s metal cargo spilling out all over the highway. Compounding the matter were the multiple gallons of diesel fuel that were also spilled, presumably when the massive vehicle’s large fuel tanks were ruptured in the crash.

According to McCarthy, the driver of the truck became trapped in the cab of his truck for a number of minutes. Firefighters and other local rescue crews had to be called in, first to help free the driver of the crashed truck, then to try and contain the leaking diesel fuel as quickly as possible.

According to rescue workers, the driver was alert and conscious at the scene, but he was taken to the local medical facilities for evaluation. McCarthy did not know what extent of injuries the man had suffered, nor did he comment on whether drugs, alcohol, or exhaustion had contributed to the accident — three common factors in unexplained crashes.

Fortunately, no one else was injured in the accident, and crews worked quickly to get the wreck clear of the road, along with the spilled cargo and hazardous fuel spill.

A recent accident in Chambersburg, PA, may seem very much like any other on the surface. However, it illustrates part of the difficulty caused by semi truck accidents, and why such collisions are not only larger but also more complex than more typical roadway accidents.

The accident, which took place on April 11th, happened at Exit 14 in the southbound lanes of I-81. The tractor-trailer flipped over at the exit ramp at 11:04 a.m., blocking multiple lanes of traffic until several hours later. The reason the accident took so long to clear is the reason that people use semi trucks in the first place — it was transporting a large cargo that had to be cleared away first.

In this case, the truck was carrying several tons of newsprint, large rolls of newspaper stock.

Recovery crews had to raise the truck several feet off the ground on hoists so the cargo could be inspected. Then, the massive rolls of newsprint had to be carted away from the accident on tow trucks. Only after the cargo was removed could crews begin to move the truck itself from the highway and allow traffic to resume. As a result, traffic to that exit was blocked until just after 3:00 p.m.

According to a local man, it took over an hour to travel between two exits following the accident.

Semi trucks are almost always carrying very large cargoes, of course. In some cases, these payloads are hazardous materials such as fuel or chemicals of one sort or another. Many tractor trailer accidents can result in the cargo spilling out onto the highway. But even those that do not spill their cargo, often require it to be secured and transported before the wreck of the vehicle can be dealt with and removed, particularly when the cargo is dangerous or flammable. This is part of what makes semi truck accidents so disruptive, and indeed so very dangerous.

Punitive damages are an issue that occasionally arises in my work as a St. Louis semi truck accident lawyer. Punitive damages are monetary payments ordered when a defendant has acted with deliberate malice, reckless disregard for safety or intentional fraud; these are in addition to financial damages ordered for the plaintiffas personal and financial losses. Not surprisingly, punitive damages are not awarded in every case; they are reserved to penalize the most serious wrongdoing, with the goal of deterring future misconduct. But because punitive damages cost more money to an at-fault defendant, and have become a political issue, defendants frequently move to bar the jury from even considering whether to award them. This was the case in Fairchild v. SCDOT, in which the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld an appeals courtas finding of reversible error when the trial court didnat allow the jury to consider punitives.

The accident underlying the case was allegedly triggered by a dump truck owned by the South Carolina Department of Transportation. On March 1, 2001, the truck was attempting to make a U-turn from the southbound lanes of I-95 to the northbound lanes. Unfortunately, the truck was hauling a trailer transporting a backhoe, and its increased length caused the vehicle to protrude from the turnaround into the left lane of southbound 95. Several drivers immediately behind the dump truck changed to the right lane, but Marilee Fairchild slowed down instead, flashing her brakes as she approached the protruding trailer. She avoided the trailer and truck, but was hit from behind by William Leslie Palmer, driving a commercial truck with a motorcycle trailer (totaling eight and a half tons), with enough force to roll her minivan over into the median.

In 2003, Fairchild sued SCDOT, Palmer, and Palmeras construction company over the resulting physical injuries and property damage, seeking punitive as well as ordinary damages. After SCDOT was dismissed as a defendant, the case went to trial against Palmer defendants and the jury eventually returned a verdict of $720,000. On cross-appeals, the South Carolina Court of Appeals found reversible error in the trial courtas refusal to submit punitive damages and a physician negligence issue to the jury, but upheld the denial of Palmeras request for an independent medical exam. Palmer again appealed.

On the punitive damages issue, the appeals court had found that there was indeed evidence of Palmeras recklessness, despite the trial courtas conclusion otherwise, because the jury had been given evidence that he might have been speeding and following too closely. The violation of either traffic law is negligence per se in South Carolina, the high court noted, and negligence is evidence of recklessness or willfulness that requires submission of punitive damages to the jury. Thus, it agreed that the trial court erred in declining to submit the issue, and upheld the appeals courtas order for a new trial. On the physician negligence issue, Fairchild requested jury instructions on determining athe negligence of a treating physician,a which were denied. The Court of Appeals reversed this, finding Palmer had submitted evidence arguing her doctor was over-medicating her. The high court again upheld, finding reversible error. Finally, it upheld denial of Palmeras motion for an IME performed by the same physician serving as his expert witness.

As a Missouri tractor-trailer accident attorney, Iam pleased to see such a pro-plaintiff result. Judging from the facts in this case, there were serious questions about whether Palmer was negligent in driving his large commercial truck. For example, the opinion notes testimony from Palmer that he maintained a speed of 65 to 70 mph to limit his following distance so other drivers wouldnat cut in. Not maintaining enough following distance is a basic mistake of truck driving, and indeed, truck drivers frequently complain that other drivers arenat aware that they need extra following distance. Under that and similar circumstances, I applaud the court for remanding the case for a new trial including punitive damages. The jury may not award them a indeed, it may not find for Fairchild at all a but as a southern Illinois big rig accident lawyer, I believe everyone should get a fair trial.

A major truck accident in South Scotland has demonstrated once again that, no matter where in the world they operate, vehicles with trailers can pose an incredible risk to life and property.

Occurring this past Saturday in the Scottish village of Torthorwald near Dumfries, the accident involved a tractor with trailer losing control and driving into a garage forecourt, according to the BBC. Seven cars were written off as completely totaled, and six others were damaged in the accident. That is correct; in less than a minute the truck had totaled or damaged eleven other cars after losing control.

According to the accident report and witnesses, the tractor and trailer came up over the pavement, drove through a brick wall along the road, and then ran over a series of cars. The vehicle ultimately stopped atop the roof of several of the vehicles.

The accident took place at Torr Garage, where business partner Robert Murray estimated that the accident had caused damages exceeding APS30,000.

“I was standing only yards from where the tractor crashed and I shouted to the other lads to help the tractor driver and I called the emergency services,” said Murray to reporters.

Murray said that villagers had been petitioning authorities for a bypass, so that dangerous tractor trailer traffic would not be as persistent a problem in the village. This accident seems likely to underscore the discussion on that point.

Graham Murray, Robert’s father and also a partner in the business, said, “It’s a miracle no-one was walking past or coming in to look at the cars. Normally there are a few people about but we had just opened.”

According to spokespersons for the local authorities, the accident is still being investigated as to its cause – there is no word on whether drugs or alcohol were involved. Wrecking vehicles had to be called in, and the roads were closed for some time to accommodate the cleanup.

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