St. Louis Injury Lawyer Blog

One crash led to another on a southbound Interstate 55 wreck in Jefferson County, Missouri.

The complicated chain of events began when a car driven by a young woman from Imperial, MO crossed the right fog line and struck the car of a man from Jackson, MO, who was parked on the shoulder. The man's car then entered the road, where it was hit by another car driver from Litchfield, IL and then a tractor trailer driven by a man from Florida. After colliding with three vehicles and hitting the median on the opposite side of the interstate from where it started, the Jackson man's car (pictured here) was totaled, and several people involved were taken by ambulance to a hospital.

According to the police report by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred between the 188 and 189 mile markers south of Richardson Road.

Represented by attorney Michael Glisson from the Alton, Illinois-based law office of Williamson, Webster, Falb & Glisson, the man from Jackson has filed an auto accident suit against the other drivers involved.

Fortunately, no one died as a result of the multiple car wreck. And although the number of driving fatalities in Missouri has decreased in recent years -- from 1,257 in 2005 to 878 in 2009, a National Highway Traffic Safety Commission report states -- the problem still exists and is reason enough to drive carefully on Interstate roadways.

Continue reading "Interstate 55 Multiple Car Accident Leads to Lawsuit" »

Winter weather set the stage for a tractor-trailer accident earlier this month in Twin Oaks, Missouri, a West County suburb of St. Louis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a patch of ice created hazardous conditions for a truck driver, whose trailer tipped over and damaged a car occupied by two teenagers. Although the crash caused damage to the teens' car, luckily, no one was injured.

If the people in the car weren't so fortunate, however, there could easily have been life-threatening injuries, costing them tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills and lost wages or time at school -- not to mention loss of quality of life.

For many in Missouri and Illinois, winter weather plus tractor trailers equals disaster.

The U.S. Department of Transportation published a study of crashes involving large trucks in 2007. Nearly 5% of injuries caused by crashes from 1975 to 2005 were under snowy or icy road conditions, as were almost 4% of fatalities.

Continue reading "West County St. Louis Tractor-Trailer Accident Occurs on Ice-Covered Roads" »

With I-70 running through both states, Missouri and Illinois residents are no strangers to tractor trailers. In fact, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) estimates that I-70 carries approximately 10,000 trucks per day across Missouri- a number that is supposed to double by 2030. In order to keep drivers safe, these vehicles are heavily regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The FMCSA regulates all aspects of the vehicles and the drivers who operate them. For drivers, the organization sets strict medical standards that state drivers have to be in good physical condition. Basic physical requirements include but are not limited to the following:
• No history of cardiac trouble.
• No current clinical diagnosis of high blood pressure.
• Must have visual acuity of 20/40 in each eye, either naturally or with corrective lenses, the ability to recognize all colors of traffic signals, and a field of vision that extends to at least 70° periphery.
• Average hearing loss cannot exceed 50 decibels at 3 different frequencies.
• Mandatory drug and alcohol testing to all who seek a commercial driver's license (CDL)

Beyond the health of the drivers, the FMCSA takes other measures to ensure the safety of commercial operators and all drivers on the road. Operators of tractor trailers or other large vehicles must obtain a commercial driver's license (CDL). Drivers must have a clean driving record and pass a written and driving test in order to receive a license.

Other regulations dictate the consecutive number of hours a driver can drive as well as the minimum allotted rest times are determined by the administration. Drivers are given a 14-hour duty limit, and are only allowed to drive for 11 hours during that period of duty. Once this cap has been met, the driver is required to take 10 consecutive hours off. All of this information is recorded in a log drivers are required to keep. Currently, many logs are kept by automatic, on-board recording devices that allow authorities and fleet owners easy access to information.

Continue reading "Tractor Trailer Safety & Federal Regulations " »