Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyer, Marion Munley, Talks About the Devastation of Yesterday’s Deadly Truck Accident in Indiana

Many families were left devastated yesterday when three people were killed and more than 20 injured in a chain reaction crash that involved approximately 45 vehicles on interstate 94 in Indiana. The afternoon truck and car accident  happened during a period of poor weather conditions and involved 18 tractor-trailers, two trucks and more than 20 cars, vans and SUVs. Witnesses of the horrific crash described it as sounding like a train coming off the rails.

According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), fatal accidents involving large trucks have been steadily increasing. We see reports of truck accidents daily on roadways across the country. The FMCSA reported that there were 3,757 people killed in accidents involving large trucks in 2011 and 60,000 accidents that resulted in injury that involved large trucks that same year. A large truck is defined as a truck with a gross vehicle weight greater than 10,000 pounds.

Large commercial trucks cause truck and car accidents for many reasons. FMCSA data shows that negligence or recklessness on the part of the truck driver or trucking companies are among the major reasons. This can include aggressive driving, tailgating, speeding, fatigued driving due to long work shifts, impaired or distracted driving, and failure to inspect brakes, tires and lights among other things.

It’s easy to see how commercial truck wrecks result in serious injuries and deaths. Injuries are often catastrophic and include severe head and spinal cord injuries, as well as orthopedic and facial injuries. Safety standards for cars are designed for collisions with vehicles of similar size – not 26,000-pound tractor-trailers. The impact of a collision with an 18-wheeler traveling at 70 miles per hour can actually be twice the impact of a collision with a passenger car going 50 mph. Also, tractor-trailers lack rear and side bumpers to absorb the impact, and their high front bumpers tend to penetrate the passenger compartments of passenger cars in crashes.

Many of the folks involved in the Michigan City accident on I-94 in Indiana have seen that you can’t control the trucks you share the road with.  Here are some safety tips from  personal injury lawyer Marion Munley that may help you avoid an accident.
• Never stay in any of the four blind spots around trucks.
• Never drive closely behind or on the right side of a truck, as you are not visible to the drive.
• Always pass a truck on the left side and make sure to allow plenty of room before switching back in front of the truck.
• When you do pass, complete the pass as promptly as traffic conditions permit.
• Avoid pulling in front of a truck when traffic may stop or slow down.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident involving a heavy commercial truck, you may have a right to recover money for your medical expenses and other losses. The Indiana truck accident and personal injury lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys have more than 50 years of experience successfully representing tractor-trailer accident victims and their families. Truck and car accident attorney Marion Munley is highly experienced in trucking litigation. She is a member of the executive committee of the Trucking Litigation Group for the American Association for Justice and editor of the AAJs Trucking Litigation newsletter. She is a frequent lecturer at trucking litigation seminars across the country.

If you want Marion and the Munley team to fight for you, call 1.855.866.5529.