TRUCK ACCIDENTS

We responded to a major crash in downtown Chicago, where the Interstate highways intersect, where a semi-truck pulling a container rear-ended a semi-tractor (bobtailing) that was slowing down for a traffic jam up ahead. The semi slammed the tractor with three people in it, two of them were tragically killed and one injured. The insurance company’s defense was that the driver of the van was an independent driver of the company that owned the truck, and they had no responsibility financially for his negligence. They said “it was too bad” that he had caused such a terrible accident but they were not going to pay a dime.

A trucker was opening the van’s door for unloading refrigerated supplies on a customer’s loading dock. Suddenly, according to our client, the doors “exploded” causing him serious facial and other injuries. It was thought, for a while, he would never drive again. The insurance company denied the claim on the grounds that he must have “slipped” and that perhaps he should make a claim against the loading dock owners.

One of our clients, an experienced trucker, could no longer drive a truck. He had been operating a semi when a young woman in an oncoming car committed “vehicle suicide.” Apparently, she had purposefully driven across the center-line of the highway into his oncoming truck and died. His reaction from the accident put him in an emotional condition that prevented him from driving, but the insurance company claimed he was “putting it on.” Our medical investigation found that he had a classic case of “PTSD.” His injury was authentic and as real as if he had sustained serious bodily injury. The woman’s insurance company paid in full.

A large interstate trucking company denied the claim of a widower for the death of his wife because the semi-truck had no physical contact with the oncoming car that hit our client’s car. The truck had actually forced this oncoming car off the highway, into the median strip, and into the path of our client’s vehicle. Insurance claimed that the truck driver was not at fault and that the fault was with the oncoming motorist whose care made contact with our client’s vehicle. The motorist had limited insurance limits and so it was imperative, if possible, for us to determine if the trucking company, which had $5,000,000 limits, was responsible.

A young mother who taught at a distant school was returning home on a snowy, icy day when her jeep skidded off the road and into the median. It was a four-lane major highway and she waited so that she could drive out of the middle, back onto the highway. We proved that the oncoming semi-truck driver, who claimed she suddenly pulled out in front of him before he killed her, was actually going 20 miles over the safe speed limit and his failure to use the training his CDL license demanded was the cause of the accident. She had not pulled in front of him “at the last second” but, in fact, he had over 25 seconds to observe her movements.