Articles Posted in Semi-Trailer Truck Accidents

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On May 8, 2009, Becky Lynch was driving her car eastbound on Route 9 in Fiatt, Ill., when the defendant truck driver, Myron Rachinski, pulling a flatbed trailer, was traveling southbound on Route 97

and chose not to stop at the stop sign. Rachinski and his truck proceeded into the intersection directly in front of Becky’s SUV. The intersection is known locally as Teddy Bear Junction.

Lynch’s SUV hit the middle of the trailer and became lodged underneath it causing it to be dragged 150 feet down the road.

Lynch, 50, suffered a broken left arm, which required surgery with plates and screws, pelvic fractures, left lateral tibial plateau fracture, bilateral pulmonary embolism and right knee replacement surgery three years later. She is expected to have a hip replacement and left knee surgery in the future.

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On Sept. 10, 2007, Paul Ermel was driving a semi-tractor northbound on Route 47 in Sugar Grove, Ill., when the defendant, Zachary McVeigh, who was approaching in his car from the southbound, attempted a left turn. He was trying to turn on at Waubansee Drive, which is the entry for the Waubonsee Community College. McVeigh misjudged Ermel’s truck, thinking it was stuck and stopped as part of the construction work that was going on at the area. McVeigh turned his vehicle into the front driver’s side of Ermel’s semi-truck.

Ermel, 38, alleged that the impact of the crash caused him to sustain bulging discs or aggravation of pre-existing degenerative conditions in his cervical and thoracic spine, damage to neck ligaments, cervical instability and a cervical fistula. He required two cervical fusion surgeries. The first was at the level C6-7, and the second was at the level C4-6. His alleged medical expenses were $326,136. He also lost 10 weeks of work as a Teamsters union truck driver.

The defendant McVeigh admitted negligence but contested the nature and extent of Ermel’s injuries. The defendant contended that Ermel suffered only soft tissue strains, which resolved within 4 months. It was also argued that there was a 9-month treatment gap before Ermel sought further medical care, that he continued working full time and raced a stock car during this 9-month period and that there were no recorded complaints of neurological symptoms in his medical records until 1½ years after the accident.

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Allen Ginn, the owner of a trucking company, drove his truck to a sawmill to unload the logs he was hauling. When he reached his designated unloading area, the mill employees instructed him to release the tie-down straps on his load. As he did that, a log fell onto him striking him directly on the head and back.

Ginn was 49 years old at the time and suffered a subdural hematoma, a subarachnoid hemorrhage and skull fractures. He also had spinal fractures at L1-3 and fractures to his right hip and the right side of his pelvis. He was in a coma for several days. He later went through a regimen of physical therapy and rehabilitation.

As a result of this incident, Ginn has suffered a brain injury, occasional seizures, memory loss and chronic fatigue. He will likely require supervision and assistance with daily living activities well into the future.

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On July 11, 2008, Tenesha Martin, an employee of a railroad, was operating a forklift while unloading the truck’s trailer at Canadian Pacific Railway’s docking area in Chicago. The forklift fell off the loading dock when the unmanned truck, owned by the defendant Central Transport Inc., rolled away from the dock causing her to sustain disabling lumbar disc injuries.

The defendant, Soo Line Railroad, argued that the trucking company, Central Transport, was at fault, while the trucking company blamed the railroad. Both defendants argued that Martin was contributorily negligent for choosing not to exercise due care and caution.

The presiding trial judge allowed evidence of Martin’s marijuana use in 2010 based on her history, which was given to a psychiatrist in 2011.

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The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated a tougher standard for the rear impact guards and other safety devices for single-unit trucks. This would also apply to rear impact guards on trailers and semitrailers.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has something to do with the change in safety rules that advocacy groups presented with signatures to promote the improvements in rear impact guards and rear impact protection. The effort was to require stronger underride guards for larger trucks and trailers. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety was instrumental in pushing for these rule changes. The study was done about three years ago and found that there were many underride fatalities because the passenger car slid under and beneath the truck or its trailer. This would happen even with the current standard of underride guards in place.

The testing included higher speeds, lower speeds and different underride guards that showed that there were regular failures of the underride guards that were in place. The regulations now do not have to meet the 1996 rules for strength of the underride guards. The long and short of it is that the 2010 study found that most underride guards in place on today’s highways and roads are ineffective in preventing serious injuries and deaths from rear impacts by cars and other vehicles with tractor trailers.

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Theodus Williams was driving a fully loaded dump truck owned by Valvano Construction when he lost control of the vehicle on a two-lane highway. This caused a crash with another car, which in turn rear-ended an SUV in which Holly Ann Cuchwara was riding. After being rear-ended, the SUV hit a utility pole before it came to a stop. Cuchwara, 38, suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured spine, closed-head injury, a broken ankle and a corneal abrasion. Cuchwara now suffers from headaches, chronic pain and fatigue.

Cuchwara and her husband sued Williams, claiming that he was negligent in his driving. The lawsuit also claimed that Valvano Construction and its corporate management had chosen not to maintain and inspect the dump truck that Williams was driving. The Cuchwaras claimed that the dump truck was not roadworthy due to the defective steering system and faulty brakes. Cuchwara did not claim lost income or past medical expenses.

After a jury trial, the jurors entered a verdict of $10.1 million and a finding that Williams was 30% responsible for Cuchwara’s injuries. The verdict would be paid by those defendants according to the jury’s percentage splits. The Cuchwara family was represented by attorneys Joseph A. Quinn, Jr. and Michael A. Lombardo III.

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On May 11, 2009, Manuel Banuelos was driving a dump truck through a construction zone on northbound Interstate 94 in Lake County, Ill., when he attempted to turn into a construction site a quarter-mile north of Illinois Route 176. At that point, Banuelos was rear-ended by a semi-tractor-trailer driven by the defendant Dezell Kelley, pushing Banuelos’ truck into a ditch causing his serious injuries.

Banuelos claimed that he had slowed down in advance of his turn, that his flashers were engaged and signs were present warning drivers of a flagger ahead and the trucks were entering and exiting this highway.

Two witnesses confirmed that Banuelos had slowed and his flashers were on. Banuelos was 39 years old at the time of the crash. He sustained a herniated L5-S1 disc that required a discectomy and fusion, a torn meniscus in his right knee that required arthroscopic surgery and a herniated C5-6 disc requiring treatment and future fusion surgery, all leaving him unable to return to work as a truck driver.

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In a tragic and grisly death case, the decedent, who was 48, had just dropped off her daughter at school and was driving out of the school’s parking lot when she stopped at a red light. A tractor-trailer driver for Albuquerque Redi-Mix Inc. and Quintana Enterprises Inc. struck the decedent’s car. The tractor-trailer rolled over, pinned the decedent in her vehicle while 25 tons of sand poured out of the truck.

Although desperate efforts were made to rescue the driver, she suffered asphyxiation and died at the scene. She was survived by her husband, two adult children and a minor child.

The family brought a lawsuit, which included the husband of the decedent suing the truck’s driver, Redi-Mix, Quintana Enterprises and its owners for negligent hiring, retention and supervision, negligent entrustment, violation of federal regulations and New Mexico statutory law and vicarious liability.

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On Oct. 29, 2008, Jonas Zigmantas was driving a flatbed truck for trucking company A.V., Inc. The truck was traveling northbound on Illinois Interstate 294 around 9:30 p.m. Zigmantas stopped his truck because he was involved in a minor property damage crash with a Honda Accord, which was driven by Michael Hawkins, near mile marker 2.

The Accord had sideswiped Zigmantas’s truck. Instead of pulling the flatbed semi-trailer over to the shoulder of the four-lane highway, Zigmantas stopped in the third lane of traffic, got out of his cab to check damage to his truck, walked to the shoulder to see if Hawkins was injured and told him to call the police.

After some time out of the truck, Zigmantas got back in, but he did not move the truck to the side of the road or put out any reflective hazard warning triangles or flares behind his parked flatbed trailer.

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On May 20, 2008, Timothy Balota, 31, was driving southbound on Interstate 55 in Collinsville, Ill., when traffic came to a stop approaching a construction zone near Route 157.  Collinsville is a near east side suburb of St. Louis.  A truck was stopped behind the plaintiff’s car when the semi-tractor-trailer driven by defendant Lewis Casey rear-ended the truck at 20-30 mph.  That crash triggered a chain reaction collision, which included five vehicles. 

At the time of the crash, Balota was on his way to have staples removed from a surgery necessitated by a life-threatening accident just 13 months earlier. 

As a result of the impact of this crash, Balota sustained cervical disc injuries at C5-6, C3-4 and C6-7 with future surgery recommended by his treating physician.  Balota also suffered aggravation of pre-existing conditions in his lumbar and thoracic spine. He claimed past and future lost time as a carpenter of $485,299. 

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