Pennsylvania Receives Truck Safety Award from U.S. DOT

The Pennsylvania State Police announced this month they received the prestigious 2012 Safety Enforcement Improvement Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The award, presented at the FMCSA’s annual leadership conference, is presented to the one state “that demonstrates the greatest improvement to its truck safety enforcement program in terms of cost efficiency and traffic enforcement.”

“This achievement is truly a great honor for the Pennsylvania State Police and our motor carrier enforcement partners,” said State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan when announcing receipt of the award.

More than 100,000 trucks were inspected in PA in 2011, representing a 35 percent increase over the number of inspections performed just three years ago, according to the press release.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports in 2010, the most current year of data, 164 people died in crashes involving a large truck in Pennsylvania. […]

PA Truck Accident Lawyer Applauds Move to Kill Truck Bill

Scranton, PA, February 23, 2012 — Pennsylvania tractor-trailer accident lawyer Daniel W. Munley, chairman of the American Association of Justice’s Trucking Litigation Group, today applauded a Congressional committee’s move to kill part of a bill that would have reduced trucking safety on the nation’s highways.

“Proposals in the bill under consideration would have increased allowable weight and length of transfer trucks to dangerous levels,” said Munley, a partner in the regional law firm of Munley, Munley & Cartwright, whose Pennsylvania truck accident attorneys focus on tractor-trailer litigation throughout the Northeast.

“We’re glad the House transportation bill will move forward without measures that would have threatened safety on our highways,” Munley said.

Portions of a bill before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee would have overturned the 1991 federal ban on triple tractor trailers and raised the weight limit on transfer trucks and other commercial vehicles (CMVs) to 97,000 pounds from the current limit of 80,000 pounds, […]

Missouri Family Awarded $7 Million in Fatal Tractor-Trailer Accident

The family of a tractor-trailer driver who died in a 2008 Arkansas truck accident has been awarded $7 million by a federal jury.  The fatal crash between two tractor-trailers occurred when a truck owned by Dunaway Timber Co. crossed the center line hitting the other truck head-on.

The lawsuit alleged that Dunaway’s driver was fatigued after driving longer than the U.S. Department of Transportation rules allowed.  The driver also was inexperienced and had a “horrible driving record,” according to the lawsuit. Both the driver and Dunaway Timber were found liable.

Maverick Transportation, which employed the deceased driver, sued Dunaway because of damage to their truck. They were awarded $93,000.
About Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Munley Law is a Pennsylvania accident and injury law firm that represents car accident victims and their families throughout the state of Pennsylvania and the Northeast, […]

Kentucky Woman Awarded Over $800,000 in Tractor-Trailer Crash

A Kentucky woman was awarded more than $800,000 by a Vanderburgh Superior Court jury for injuries she suffered in a 2008 vehicle accident with a Fat Boys Trucking semi.  The tractor-trailer driver was cited for disregarding a traffic signal after he ran a red light at U.S. 41 and Indiana 57 in Evansville, KY and struck the woman’s van.

The woman has been unable to work since suffering knee and shoulder injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the accident, according to her lawyer.  The lawsuit was filed seeking compensatory damages against the trucking company.

The woman was traveling westbound on Indiana 57 attempting to turn south onto U.S. 41. when her Dodge Caravan was struck by the semi as it came through the traffic light.  The woman’s van then went to the left, overturning on its side. The truck was hauling over 100 cattle from Kentucky to Kansas.  […]

PATCO to Pay $10 Million in Crash Settlement

After only twenty minutes into a car accident trial last week, a recess was called and the two parties came to agreement on a $10 million settlement to be paid by the Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO).   The transit authority had admitted before trial that its truck driver was liable for the collision.

A 55-year-old Berlin, NJ man was driving to work in July 2007 when he was struck by a PATCO truck in Philadelphia, PA.  The man had just crossed a bridge into Philadelphia when the PATCO driver ran a red light and shoved the man’s vehicle into a median strip.  The accident resulted in shattered bones and a broken ankle to the driver.

The man has since undergone 12 surgeries and a painful debriding procedure to try to rid the leg of a serious infection which had begun to cause his flesh to rot.  […]