Near Poplarville, MS, at 2:44 AM 3/16/05, three 18-wheelers crashed and shut down the Interstate for several hours. The mess began when automobile carrier lost control and veered across the median, The trailer, which was carrying vehicles, came to rest blocking the roadway. Then another 18-wheeler struck the trailer, followed by a third 18-wheeler. Both trucks left the interstate to the right, where one of them overturned in the roadway. The impacts jarred vehicles loose from the auto carrier’s trailer and sent them tumbling onto the interstate. Fortunately, only minor injuries to the drivers were reported, but the southbound lanes of I-59 were closed for 11 hours.
See Picayune Item article.
While the cause for the initial loss of control is not mentioned in the article, one may easily speculate that driver fatigue played a role in the unexplained loss of control at 2:44 AM.
Johnson & Ward has been a leading personal injury and wrongful death specialty law firm in Atlanta since 1949. The founders of the firm were also among the founders of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. Current partners include former presidents of the State Bar of Georgia and the Atlanta Bar Association.
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Ken Shigley, senior counsel at Johnson & Ward, is a former president of the State Bar of Georgia (2011-12). He was the first Georgia lawyer to earn three board certifications from the National Board of Trial Advocacy (Civil Trial Advocacy, Civil Pretrial Advocacy, and Truck Accident Law). In 2019, he received the Traditions of Excellence Award for lifetime achievement. Mr. Shigley was the lead author of eleven editions of Georgia Law of Torts: Trial Preparation and Practice (Thomson Reuters, 2010-21). He graduated from Furman University and Emory University Law School, and completed certificate courses in trial practice, negotiation and mediation at Harvard Law School.
