Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyer Blog

A 41-year-old female driver was operating her vehicle on a state highway when a 10 lb. corner iron securing raisin crates on a tractor trailer came loose. The corner iron struck the windshield of another driver’s vehicle, hitting her in the head and causing her to suffer a traumatic brain injury and seizure disorder which prevented her from driving. According to news sources, medical expenses amounted to $178,900.00 and the victim, a teacher, was forced to retire and apply for disability benefits. The defendant was sued with the allegation that they failed to properly secure the corner iron and the jury awarded $12.23 million dollars after hearing the facts of the case.

Each year, the negligent operators of trucks seriously injure or kill thousands of pedestrians, drivers, and motorists. Unsecured truck loads continue to pose hazards for innocent drivers who are often wrongfully killed or catastrophically injured as a result of the unsecured or improperly secured cargo. I am sure that many of my readers have observed trucks and other vehicles improperly loaded with cargo traveling down highways at high rates of speed. It is reported that over 50,000 truck accidents occur every year due to unsecured cargo and often trucks are hauling hazardous materials or flammable materials which are not properly secured and result in horrific consequences if an accident or malfunction occurs.

Continue reading "Failure to Properly Secure Cargo on a Truck Results in Catastrophic Injuries and Significant Eight Figure Jury Verdict" »

How many times have you been driving down a highway or street when someone cuts in front of you at a high rate of speed and you narrowly avoid an accident. If you avoid an accident you are one of the lucky ones because many times fatal and catastrophic injuries are caused by unsafe driver actions such as an improper or erratic lane change.

In a study prepared for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety by Lydia P. Kostyniuk, Frederick M. Streff, and Jennifer Zakrajsek of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute unsafe driver action conditions that were most likely to cause fatal crashes between cars and trucks were addressed as well as the identification of strategies for educating motorists in safe driving practices. (http://www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/CarTruck.pdf). While the study is limited in that it did not address non-fatal crashes, single vehicle crashes, or crashes involving more than two vehicles, the study identifies probability and analyses techniques realizing information about pre-crash actions of drivers based upon police observations, post-crash scene, and unsworn testimony of survivors and other witnesses. The study concluded five likely factors contributing to an accident:

1. Failing to keep in the lane;

5. Inattentive or distracted drivers.

Additionally four factors out of 94 were found to be more likely to occur in fatal car/truck crashes than in fatal car/car crashes:

1. Following improperly;

2. Driving with vision obscured by rain, snow, fog, sand, or dust;

3. Drowsy or fatigued driving;

4. Improper lane change.

The study noted that drowsy or fatigued driving and following improperly were more likely to be reported for male than female car drivers, car drivers in crashes where their vision was obstructed tend to be older than other drivers, car drivers who were drowsy/fatigued were likely to be younger than other drivers, and younger drivers were more likely than older drivers to follow improperly, speed, and use alcohol or drugs.

The experienced Philadelphia car accident and Philadelphia truck accident lawyers of Reiff and Bily have joined a national campaign to educate students and drivers in safe practices and must emphasize that mistakes or erratic driving or erratic changing of lanes often comes at a cost with serious consequences.

Continue reading "An Erratic Lane Change Tends To Lead To A Catastrophic Lane Change Advises Experienced Philadelphia Car Accident Attorney" »