Honda driver killed when rear-ended by tractor trailer on I-75
Marietta, GA, 9/6/05.
The driver of a Honda Civil was killed early Tuesday morning when rearended by a tractor trailer on I-75 just south of the Ga. 5 exit. When you follow news of truck-car wrecks, the pattern of truckers running over cars in the middle of the night is a tragically monotonous pattern. See article.
I hope the victim's family acts quickly enough to be able to obtain full documentation of the pattern of the trucker's hours, fatigue and sleep deprivation leading up to this fatal crash. While the trucking company will try to limit the search for truth to a few seconds on the highway, the root cause often lies in the company's mode of operation that pushes truck drivers to drive when too fatigued to be safe, in violation of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation that bars operation by a driver who is impaired by illness or fatigue.
The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a "SuperLawyer" in Atlanta Magazine and one of the "Legal Elite" in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).
did this acc. happen right before I-285 exit between hours of 02:00-04:00am
I feel for this family. But I am married to a truck driver and have been in the truck with him many times. Sometimes prehaps not in this case but others I have seen, cars and there drivers have a death wish. I have seen cars pull in front of a truck when there is clearly no room for them. They do not realize that a truck can not stop on a dime. It take room and when they pull in front or out in front of a truck it is not fair that the truck driver is the one at fault. It may not make things right when someone dies but sometimes the driver of the car is the cause of the accident. I know some truck drivers are at fault but not in every case. Just because a truck is involved doe not mean it is their fault. This in no way is related to this accident. Just making a comment on the behalf of all truck drivers.
How many times are accidents like this caused by reverse tailgaiting I wonder
RESPONSE: Maybe the same folks who strap explosives to their torsos to enter Middle Eastern markets would do "reverse tailgating" at highway speeds in front of a tractor trailer. Other than that, I can't imagine. I've certainly never heard of it in my law practice. If a tractor trailer is following another vehicle, the truck driver has to observe proper speed and space management to maintain a safe following distance. I once had a case where a trucking company hired a Ph.D. to testify that it was impossible for a trucker going 70 mph to avoid running over a family vehicle going 55 mph at night. That was just patently absurd. I didn't even bother to spend time and money taking the "expert's" deposition. Because his testimony was so absurd, I just did my homework on him and prepared to annihilate him in front of the jury. KLS
