Trucking Accidents

Commercial Truck Recalls Highlight Safety Concerns

December 11, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Last year, the number of vehicle recalls in the U.S. hit another record, with 51.2 million vehicles involved in 868 separate recalls, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The year before, there were 63 million vehicles named in 803 recalls. Many of those are passenger vehicles driven by the public, and those are certainly of great concern – not just to the vehicle owners and passengers, but to all of us who share the road.

However, one aspect of these recalls that gets less attention – but is now less alarming – is that of commercial truck recalls. A typical commercial truck can weigh 80,000 pounds. In many cases, when tractor-trailers or other large vehicles crash, there are injuries to multiple parties. These are more likely to be serious accidents that result in death. Even so, not all commercial vehicle owners respond to manufacturer recall notices.

Recently, a recall of 16,000 large trucks made by Volvo Trucks North America reached 100 percent completion rate within 18 months of being announced – a feat writers at Trucks.com declared as “rare” and “atypical.” The average commercial vehicle recall, the publication reports, results in only 70 percent of covered vehicles being repaired. Anthony Foxx, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary, called the Volvo response one of “extraordinary effort,” following the manufacturer’s discovery that there were four separate instances of sudden steering failure. Continue reading ›

Trucker Sentenced to 20 Years Prison for School Bus Crash That Injured Students

September 9, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

As we embark on another school year, transportation safety is at the forefront of parents’ minds as they send their kids off to school each day. The good news is, school buses are one of the safest modes of travel for young people. However, that does not mean there is no risk of an accident. The 2014 school bus accident in Nassau County is proof.

Today, the man driving the logging truck that slammed into that packed school bus is now serving a 20-year prison sentence. Although he pleaded no contest to the charges of reckless driving and serious bodily injury, he blamed his former employer, Mo’s Trucking, for failure to properly maintain the truck. The tractor-trailer rig rammed into the school bus as it stopped to drop off students on a rainy afternoon. Seven of the students were seriously hurt, though authorities say it could have been much worse if the 37-year-old bus driver hadn’t suddenly stepped on the gas as she realized what was about to happen as the truck barreled toward the rear of the bus.

Although thankfully all survived, the crash was described by those who saw it, “horrific.” The truck driver was reportedly operating erratically just prior to the crash. His wife, who was seated next to him, was naked. Neither were wearing seat belts and both were seriously injured. The driver’s wife would later say she was hot in the cabin, so she took off her clothing. Continue reading ›

Truck Accident Insurance Coverage Weighed in Great West Cas. Co. v. Robbins

August 9, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A 44-year-old man lost his life one day in 2011 when the driver of a semi-truck failed to yield as she entered a busy highway from a truck stop. Nothing would ever bring back the beloved husband, but who should be the one to pay damages?

As in any truck accident case, there were many different entities – and two defendant insurance companies – involved. Commercial trucking companies are required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to carry a certain amount of liability insurance. Those minimum levels are often far in excess of what you might encounter with a passenger vehicle, and the reason is because these massive vehicles have the potential to cause devastating levels of damage. That’s why a lot of these companies carry policies that are even in excess of the minimum.

But as the recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit case of Great West Cas. Co. v. Robbins shows, holding each of these firms accountable isn’t always easy. Continue reading ›

Trucking Accident Lawsuit Targets Effectiveness of Underride Guards

May 14, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

One of the greatest dangers in a Fort Myers trucking accident is the risk of a smaller vehicle ending up underneath a large commercial trailer. So serious was this problem that in 1998, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implemented a requirement that vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or more and manufactured after 1998 must be equipped with underride guards. These steel features are supposed to prevent other vehicles from ending up underneath a large truck, which is associated with catastrophic injuries.

The underride guard requirement only pertains to certain trucks and even then, only to the rear. The issue still affects a significant number of cases. For example, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that all the advances in modern vehicle technology are not effective if a vehicle ends up under a truck. The way most underride guards are designed, a passenger vehicle that rear-ends a semi-truck at an angle can still end up under the truck.

In 2011, of the more than 2,200 passenger vehicle occupant deaths in large truck accidents nationally, 260 died when the front of their vehicle struck the rear of a truck. It’s not clear exactly how many of those instances involved underride, but a 2011 study by IIHS found that of 115 fatal truck crashes, about half indicated severe or catastrophic underride damage. Continue reading ›

Perry v. Asphalt & Concrete Servs. – Insurer Info in Injury Litigation

April 15, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

You may have wondered why in injury litigation, we refrain from naming the insurer in the initial action. This is why, for example, you will see spouses suing each other for crash-related injuries, rather than suing the insurance company – even if that’s ultimately the goal.

The reason has to do with the fact that courts have found that the presence or lack of an insurance policy can be prejudicial in a civil case. The thinking is that if a jury is aware that a defendant has ample insurance, they may be more likely to award much higher damages to the victim than they would if they knew the defendant has no insurance and would be personally liable to pay damages.

The courts take this matter extremely serious, which is why the Court of of Appeals of Maryland (the highest court in that state) recently affirmed a reversal of a truck injury verdict and remanded the case for a new trial for a violation of this standard. The court noted that lack of insurance coverage is irrelevant and inadmissible in a lawsuit alleging negligent hiring where the evidence doesn’t establish the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries. Continue reading ›

Moreno v. TLSL – Trucking Accident Lawsuit

April 13, 2016 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Eyewitness testimony – whether in a criminal or civil trial – must be weighed carefully by all involved. On one hand, the word of someone who witnesses an event firsthand is powerful in a courtroom. On the other hand, it can be notoriously inaccurate.

Last year, researchers published an article in the journal Memory that analyzed the capability of adult and child witnesses to accurately recollect events from the past and provide reliable testimony. They concluded there were gaps in what the science of memory says about reliability and how such testimony is used in trial. It’s not that firsthand accounts aren’t valuable, but they need to be properly weighed and, if necessary, challenged.

It was the fallibility of an eyewitness account that resulted in summary judgment in favor of the defense in a trucking accident case before the Mississippi Supreme Court recently. In Moreno v. TLSL, Inc., the only one independent witness who saw the trucking accident that killed two people and seriously injured a third. Unfortunately, key elements of her recollection proved unreliable, and ultimately sunk the case. Continue reading ›

Tracy Morgan Truck Accident Settlement Spurs Bad Faith Insurance Claim

November 16, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Insurance companies have a responsibility to their insureds and those harmed by their insureds to timely pay fair sums for legitimate claims. When they fail to do this, they may be sued for acting in bad faith.

F.S. 624.155 allows direct legal action against insurers who violate this tenant, and a finding in favor of the plaintiff may result in compensation for triple the amount of original damages.

Usually in auto accident cases, we represent injured parties who are either seeking UM/UIM (uninsred/underinsured motorist) benefits against their own insurance companies, or have been granted rights to pursue the insurer directly after securing a judgment against a defendant insured. Continue reading ›

Teenage Truckers Would be Allowed Under New Bill

August 29, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

If you are a 17-year-old driver in Florida, you are restricted via the state’s Graduated Drivers Licensing law to operation of that vehicle between the hours of 5 a.m. and 1 a.m., and at all other times must be accompanied by a licensed driver who is at least 21-years-old in the passenger seat or be traveling to and from work.

Novice drivers aren’t eligible for a full license before they reach 18. But now, if a bill moving its way through the U.S. Senate is successful, newly-licensed 18-year-olds will be considered qualified for a job on a big rig.

Federal law currently prohibits drivers under 21 from operating semi-trucks and tractor-trailers across state borders. Some states do allow 18-year-olds to operate these vehicles, but they can’t haul from state-to-state, which doesn’t make them good candidates for most long-haul trucking positions. Continue reading ›

Nat’l Am. Ins. Co. v. Artisan & Truckers Cas. Co. – Insurance Duty to Defend in Truck Accident

August 21, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Insurance companies have a broad duty to defend policyholders in actions where they are accused of liability. One example would be an auto accident.

While this may seem of little consequence to the plaintiff, it matters because plaintiffs are ultimately looking to hold the insurance companies liable. That’s because the insured individual likely has far fewer personal resources to pay actual damages. Insurance companies, meanwhile, exist for the purpose of protecting against risk and paying damage claims.

This is why often times if an insurer is wrongly denying a claim and/or duty to defend, plaintiff may settle with the defendant for the right to stand in defendant’s place and sue his or her insurance company for breach of contract and/or bad faith. Continue reading ›

Dakter v. Cavallino – Truck Driver Negligence Verdict Affirmed

July 31, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

All motorists are held to the same duty of care standard when operating a vehicle, and that is the duty of reasonable care. That means acting the same a reasonably prudent driver would under the same or similar circumstances.

Semi-truck drivers are no different. However, there are in many ways held to a higher standard than others for several reasons. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires truck drivers and truck companies to adhere to certain drive-time limits, weight restrictions and training requirements in order to be road-worthy. That training involves teaching truckers to use extra care, remain alert and operate at a safe speed.

In the recent case of Dakter v. Cavallino, before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the question was whether jurors wrongly held the trucker had a higher standard of care when they were asked to weigh if he’d acted as a reasonably prudent truck driver would under similar circumstances. The state supreme court held that it did not, and affirmed the $1.1 million verdict in favor of injured plaintiff and his wife.