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18 Wheeler and Large Truck Accident Cases
- Log truck liability for motorcyclist's orthopedic injuries
- Truck-auto collision: wrongful death
- Truck-auto collision: blindness
- Multiple truck collision: wrongful death of child
Trucking Accidents and Safety
Every day, more than 555,000 18-wheelers travel our highways bringing goods from all over the world. They also bring something else - death and injury. More than 5,000 deaths and 125,000 injuries in the U.S. are caused annually by collisions with these trucks.
In 2001, 429,000 large trucks (gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 lbs.) were involved in traffic crashes in the United States: 4,793 were involved in fatal crashes. A total of 5,082 people died (12 percent of all the traffic fatalities reported in 2001) and an additional 131,000 were injured in those crashes.
In Oregon, there were almost 700 deaths caused by 18 wheeler accidents in 2001. This has been a 23 percent increase in fatal 18-wheeler accidents from 2000 to 2001 (latest year figures are available.)
Truck-driver fatigue has been cited as a probable factor in up to 40 percent of these crashes. Yet, one of the top priorities of the trucking industry has been to actually increase the number of hours truckers are allowed to drive. The Corson & Johnson Law Firm is working to make sure just the opposite happens - limit behind-the-wheel hours, increase rest time between shifts, create tougher requirements for safer trucks, have better pay and training for drivers, and require more inspections for both the trucks and drivers.
Log Truck Liability for Motorcyclist's Orthopedic Injuries
The Corson & Johnson Law Firm successfully tried to a plaintiff's verdict a case for a twenty-one year old Eugene man who suffered multiple, severe orthopedic injuries when his motorcycle was struck by a turning car. Neither driver could see the other until it was too late to avoid the collision because their views were blocked by a loaded log truck, which was illegally parked in the center turn-only lane. The driver of the car settled for his insurance policy limits. After a week-long trial, the jury found that the trucking company's negligence caused the motorcyclist's injuries, and assessed $561,467.85 in damages.
Truck-Auto Collision: Wrongful Death
A ten-year-old child was riding home with the grandmother and aunt in a car traveling west on Highway 34 in rural Linn County, Oregon. A commercial tractor-trailer loaded with pipe was coming around the curve from the opposite direction. The 18-wheeler lost control, went over the centerline, and slid into the family car head-on. The Corson & Johnson Law Firm prosecuted a wrongful death claim for the surviving family members, which was settled before trial for $550,000.
Truck-Auto Collision: Blindness
A semi rig was southbound on the Interstate 5 freeway in southern Lane County, Oregon early one morning. A local man had just driven his Toyota Celica onto the freeway and was going north on his way to work in Eugene. The southbound tractor-trailer lost control, plowed through the median, crossed over into the northbound lanes, and smashed into the Toyota. The crashed caused the local man to suffer extensive injuries to his face, including total and permanent blindness in both eyes. The case settled on terms that included payment of the trucking company's $2 million available insurance policy limits.
Read more about this case as told by the survivor here.
Multiple Truck Collision: Wrongful Death of Child
One night in southern Douglas County, Oregon, thick smoke filled a long valley through which the Interstate 5 freeway travels. A nine year-old girl was in the back seat of her mother's car, stopped behind a flatbed truck that had also stopped because of the smoke. Two big trucking rigs, one a gasoline tanker, barreled down the freeway through what both truck drivers estimated to be about a mile of smoke. The gasoline tanker smashed into the back of the family car, sending it into the fast lane and the guardrail. The second tractor-trailer then ran over the family car. The little girl died in the collisions. The case settled after extensive litigation for $475,000.
Benton County • Clackamas County • Coos County • Crook County • Deschutes County • Douglas County • Jackson County • Jefferson County • Josephine County • Klamath County • Lane County • Lincoln County • Linn County • Marion County • Multnomah County • Polk County • Tillamook County • Washington County
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