Archive for the ‘truck accident’ Category
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
I’m hearing some troubling things about the proposed legislative agenda being pushed by the trucking industry, such as their desire to increase truck/trailer weight limits from 80,000 lbs. to 97,000 lbs. and to once again try to increase the hours a trucker may drive without rest.
With all the trucking activity around Texas and the Fort Worth/Dallas area, the last thing we need is to let the trucks drive heavier, faster and longer. Truck wrecks and deadly accidents happen all too frequently as is and too many carriers are cutting costs by scaling back on safety and maintenance. What we do need is smarter and more-effective regulation and increased law enforcement to adequately police for violators.
Tags: truck accident, truck wrecks, trucking
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Story in today’s on-line Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
At least two people are dead and a third is injured following a late night crash in East Texas involving six 18-wheelers and one car.
A dispatcher with the Department of Public Safety said Tuesday morning that eastbound Interstate 20 at exit 560 is shut down while emergency crews clear the wreckage and clean up fuel spills.
A spokesman with the Texas Department of Transportation told Tyler television station KLTV that cleanup efforts could take awhile and it’s unknown how long the interstate will be closed.
Officials said the accident began when an 18-wheeler rolled over and caught fire. Details weren’t immediately available on the two adults who died in the crash, but they were riding together in the one car involved in the wreck.
Tags: 18 wheeler, truck wreck
Posted in Trucking Accidents, truck accident, wrecks | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
Good article in the Houston Chronicle today about how the recent bus wreck tragedies in Texas, Nevada and Mississippi have brought bus safety to the forefront of the politicians in D.C. and Austin. Among other things, there are bills being floated that will require buses to have seatbelts for passengers. That sounds reasonable and somewhat of a no-brainer. I would also suggest that bus carriers be required to carry vast amounts of liability insurance, something on the order of $25 million or thereabouts. Because when a tragedy occurs like the one we just saw in Sherman, dozens of lives are affected and I’ll bet there will be little - if any - insurance to help compensate victims.
One striking statistic in the Chronicle article is that in the past six years, 52 people have died in passenger bus accidents in Texas. That is appalling.
As an aside, Chronicle writer Clay Robison has had some great articles in the past exposing the plights of injured consumers. Tip of the hat to Clay.
Tags: bus accidents, bus wreck, legislation
Posted in car wreck, consumer safety, personal injury, truck accident, wrecks | Comments Off
Friday, August 8th, 2008
What a terrible bus wreck early this morning in Sherman. 14 dead and at least 40 injured, according to recent reports, after the bus lost control and ran off a highway overpass. Many of the victims are described as Vietnamese Catholics from the Houston area on their way to a religious meeting in Missouri. It was reported on the radio today that the charter bus company may have been operating without a license, which it apparently lost several weeks ago. Over 20 ambulances and 18 helicopters were needed to transport victims to trauma hospitals in Dallas and elsewhere. What a tragedy.
Tags: bus accidents, bus wreck, Sherman
Posted in Trucking Accidents, consumer safety, truck accident, wrecks | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
Wise County Messenger reporting a bad truck wreck near Chico on Monday. Apparently a car struck the rear of an 18-wheeler that was turning in to a Nabors Drilling plant. The driver and her young child were flown to hospitals in Fort Worth.
Another blog reports that the child may have died. Very sad.
I had a meeting near Paradise not far from Bridgeport in Wise County this morning, and I am amazed at the volume of traffic on Highway 199, 51 and 114 in that area. There are trucks everywhere, mainly rock haulers and Barnett Shale trucks, many of them driving quite fast. On a different note, that is some beautiful country out there. But watch yourself if you drive out that way.
Tags: fort worth, truck wreck, trucking accident
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Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Rarely does a day go by without yet another
truck wreck in
Dallas. Today, an 18-wheeler jackknifed on LBJ Freeway and ended up hanging over a bridge while on fire. Needless to say, traffic on I35 and 635 and surrounding streets came to a standstill. NBC5i
reports that the driver escaped with minor injuries and no word yet on the cause of the wreck.
Tags: Dallas, truck wreck, trucking accident
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Monday, April 21st, 2008
A man rented a U-Haul truck to help his daughter move. While getting out of the rear of the truck, the 6-ton truck rolled over the man and left him a paraplegic. 14 surgeries later, he still requires around-the-clock care.
He filed a lawsuit against U-Haul, alleging negligence for renting out a truck that was not roadworthy with faulty emergency brake and worn-down gears. A Dallas County jury last Friday found U-Haul liable and awarded the plaintiffs $87 million.
U-Haul says it plans to aggressively appeal the verdict. It issued a statement that this verdict “is another example of abuse of the legal system against corporate citizens in America.”
Shame on U-Haul. There has never been a more corporate-friendly time in our justice system than right now. Big Business has lobbied to change the laws in their favor, they’ve plowed thousands of dollars into electing judges who are favor corporations over consumers, and they’re benefiting from a 20-year media campaign to vilify victims and their lawyers and poison the jury pool against plaintiffs.
The fact that a Dallas County jury hit them hard tells me that the evidence was truly damning, but U-Haul will no doubt string this out in the appellate system for years to come.
Tags: Dallas, Jury, lawyer, truck
Posted in corporate negligence, personal injury, truck accident | Comments Off
Monday, February 11th, 2008
A Tennessee minister, his wife and their two children died when an 18-wheeler hit their van as they were driving to help families devastated by last week’s tornadoes in that state. Michael Welch, wife Julie, 11-year old daughter Hannah and 14-year old son Jesse died when a Wal-Mart truck slammed into the back of their van and pushed it into the car in front of them. Criminal charges are pending against the Wal-Mart driver.
In an interview just a few hours prior to his death, Rev. Welch said of his and other ministers’ efforts to comfort families affected by the tornadoes, “We cling to God, because He’s all we’ve got.”
Amen.
Tags: truck, truck wreck, trucking accident
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Monday, February 11th, 2008
Three men died when their car hit a parked 18-wheeler in Grapevine early Sunday morning. Police report that that truck was parked legally.
Tags: car wreck, truck wreck
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Friday, February 1st, 2008
FWST reports a tractor trailer wreck this morning at Western Center Boulevard and I-35 in Fort Worth, where the rig ended up hanging over a wall near a southbound overpass. Yep, a truck hanging precariously off the side of a bridge will cause on-looker delay. North-bound folks better hope the wreck is cleared before heading home today.
Tags: fort worth, truck wreck, trucking accident
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