Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

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An alleged hit and run driver, fleeing the scene of one accident, slammed head-on into a Clallam County transit bus. The bus then hit another car. Five people are recovering from injuries suffered when the collision occurred.

The accident took place just before 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, on US Highway 101 near State Route112, west of Port Angeles. According to the Washington State Patrol, a 30-year-old man from California who was driving a pickup truck with a camper shell, had allegedly side swiped an SUV on Euclid Avenue near State Route 117 in Port Angeles and was fleeing that scene.

“The pickup truck that had a camper in its’ bed was involved in a minor hit and run collision about a mile and a half, two miles back,” said Trooper John Ryan. “The pickup truck continued westbound on 101 eventually crossing over the center line here where it hit head-on with a Clallam County Transit bus.”

A small car was pushed off the road after the bus was forced to the right. Both the small car and the bus ended up in a ditch. The California man’s pickup truck rolled over, trapping him inside. The 30-year-old suffered a serious leg injury and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after being removed from the wreckage.
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A runaway dump truck hauling shards of broken concrete took motorists traveling down Madison Street, including the truck’s driver, by surprise when it crashed into a strip mall. However, the incident could have resulted in serious injury to a large number of people had the truck driver not intentionally crashed into a nearby building, thus bringing his vehicle to a halt and avoiding further reckless travel down the street. The truck did hit three cars in the process though, only one of which included a motorist that required medical attention. The dump truck driver was not injured.

According to the seattletimes.nwsource.com report, one man whose driver’s side of his car was clipped by the truck said that he saw the truck coming toward him at a high speed when he looked in his rear-view mirror. The man stated, “I could have been killed…it was unbelievable.”

Trucks serve multiple purposes and are required to dispose of waste and also transport commodities that our communities rely heavily on. Although we need trucks of all kinds to function on a daily basis, due to their great size and heavy loads, trucks can pose many dangers and hazards to other drivers on the road. Truck maintenance requires acute attention and, although it is not known at this time why the truck’s brakes failed in the above incident, defective auto parts are capable of causing serious truck accidents in Seattle that can result in catastrophic injuries.
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Early Thursday morning, a Ferndale woman was left in critical condition after a pickup truck struck her on Highway 2 near Gold Bar. The woman was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The 49-year-old woman was taken to Harborview by ambulance after suffering leg and chest injuries in the accident, said Trooper Keith Leary of the Washington State Patrol.

At about 4:40 am, the woman was crossing an eastbound lane of traffic west of Gold Bar near the highway’s intersection with Reiter Road. The truck, driven by a 19-year-old Sedro-Woolley man, struck her near the highway’s centerline, said Leary.

According to Leary, the man saw the woman and braked hard to avoid striking her, but she continued walking in front of the truck. Troopers believe the pedestrian may have been drinking alcohol before she was struck, as she had a strong odor of intoxicants on her breath, Leary said.
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According to the Washington State Patrol, an unsecured load caused a chain reaction crash on the Interstate 90 floating bridge across Lake Washington. The crash delayed Monday evening commuter traffic for hours.

Two westbound lanes were blocked for nearly 2 1/2 hours by the auto accident in Washington. The collision involved five vehicles and a tractor-trailer rig, said a local Trooper.

The Trooper also said that the problem started when a car swerved to avoid a bucket on the freeway. This accident demonstrates how important it is to secure any and all items being transported in a truck or on a vehicle roof to ensure that roads and highways aren’t obstructed.

Though none appeared to have serious injuries, six people were taken to Harborview Medical Center.
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The Washington State Patrol reports that between 2005 and 2007, there were almost 5000 commercial truck accidents in Washington alone. These accidents involved drivers of cars who drive unsafely around large commercial trucks. In two-thirds of the accidents, statistics show that the driver of the car was at-fault. These accidents resulted in 175 fatalities and 450 injuries. According to the Patrol, drivers need to leave space for trucks and learn ways to share the road.

John R. Batiste, chief of the Washington State Patrol, says, “Motorists who drive recklessly, or are unsafe around these big rigs, are asking for trouble. When a car and a commercial vehicle are involved in a collision, the car will lose.”

Given these statistics, the Patrol has a worked with other law enforcement agencies to create the Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Truck (TACT) project. In an effort to reduce accidents, the Washington State Patrol is trying to increase the public’s awareness of unsafe driving behaviors around commercial vehicles. These dangerous driving behaviors include:

  • cutting off trucks
  • tailgating
  • failure to yield the right of way
  • speeding
  • aggressive driving

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The website komonews.com reported in a story on April 20, 2009 that Chrissy Gombos of Kirkland called the authorities to report a near death experience in Skagit County, Washington. Gombos claims that a piece of debris came off the back of a truck on Interstate 5 which thankfully struck her cars’ under carriage and not the windshield.

Gombos said, “All of the sudden, out of nowhere within a split second, I saw a large chunk of something that didn’t really have a shape come off a generic delivery truck in front of us.”

It is still unclear what struck Gombos’ Ford Focus but it was rocked as if it had hit a bomb. The debris punctured the gas tank, and bent a front axle. She believes that the driver of the truck never knew what happened and kept driving.

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The website king5.com reported in an article on April 14, 2009 that the family of fifteen year old Haley Salvador wants to alert people, especially teens, not to cross Interstate 5. According to reports, Salvador had taken the shortcut countless times but the last time would prove to be a deadly one.

Niky Griffin and Daniel Leatherman accompanied their good friend Salvador the night of the dreadful pedestrian accident in Washington. They say that they went across the first time safely but on the way back Salvador took the wrong shortcut and actually cut across I-5 instead of going up the on ramp.

Griffin said, “You have to make sure cars aren’t going too fast that they could hit you. She didn’t go up the onramp. She went down it and across the freeway, which she wasn’t supposed to do. I don’t know why she went that way.”

Salvador is not the first to cross the I-5 at this juncture and will most likely not be the last. According to teens, the shortcut lessens their trip to Everett Mall by 20 minutes. With no pedestrian bridge, the shortcut entices teens to the point that they overlook their safety in order to avoid taking the long way.

Daniel Letherman said, “I live right across the freeway… and this is the fastest way unless you go all the way around. There’s no other way to get to the mall.”

Brandon Lee, Washington State Patrol said, “Running across four to five lanes, on-off ramps, it’s just not safe, especially at night, it’s really deceiving how fast people are going”.
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The website seattletimes.com reported in an article on April 28, 2009 that the family of Bryce Lewis, 19 who was killed when a dump truck struck the bike she was riding, has settled out of court. The family attorney stated that parents Marc and Laura Paolicelli of Colorado, agreed to an unrevealed sum of money from Nelson & Sons Construction of Woodinville.

According to Police Reports, Lewis and friend Caleb Hall were riding in a bike lane on Eastlake Avenue East near the University Bridge in 2007 when a dump truck owned by Nelson & Sons and driven by David McClane made a right turn without warning the riders. Apparently unaware he had hit anything, McClane kept driving for a short period before stopping.

Months after the tragic bike accident in Washington, a large group of bicyclists carried out a wheeled demonstration along the streets of Seattle in memory of Lewis and to call on city officials to take more actions to ensure bike safety, particularly in the Eastlake neighborhood.

Christensen said, “Nelson & Sons stepped forward and did the right thing and the family was satisfied by their gestures.”

Accidents involving trucks account for over 130,000 injuries in the United States. There are 5,000 deaths each year and close to 35% of the injuries are catastrophic. Trucks over 10,000 pounds (semis and tractor-trailer) represent only 3% of all registered vehicles but are responsible for over 25% of vehicle related deaths.
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A report states that a $300,000 settlement was reached between Snohomish County and a bicyclist injured in a traffic accident that occurred three years ago. The Washington trucking accident involved a 31-year old man and a public-works employee who hit the bicyclist with his public utility truck.

The accident left the man with two broken elbows. He was subsequently unable to continue his job at a lumber yard and is looking to train for another form of employment.

At Bernard Law Group, we handle personal injury lawsuits that are the results of auto accidents in Washington State every day.

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A tanker truck owned by Reinhard petroleum of Federal Way, Washington,and carrying 10,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline, crashed and burned on Interstate 5. The driver was killed. According to Seattle’s Komo4 News, the driver, William Neil Adams, age 56, of Scappoose, Oregon, was driving the truck from Linton, OR to Salem when the truck went off the road, hit some ice, rolled and then caught fire.

According to reports, Adams had a long career in trucking, they he had only been with the company for about a year. He was the father of two teenage children. The family recently lost their home in a fire and was reportedly living with relatives.
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