LANCASTER, PA, 6/26/07 – A tractor-trailer driver who did not notice slower-moving traffic in front of her caused the fiery seven-vehicle crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that killed three people from New Jersey. The tractor-trailer hit six passenger cars and then burst into flames, police said. The dead were all in the first car hit, which was wedged beneath the tractor.  The tractor trailer was reportedly traveling too fast for conditions when the crashed occurred about 12:30 PM. State police confirmed that Katrina Griffin of Greensboro, N.C., was driving the tractor-trailer and did not notice slower-moving traffic in front of her, causing the crash. One eyewitness said, "I could see the truck coming really fast behind me. I could see all the cars being pushed out of the way.

Why would a truck driver fail to notice the slowing of traffic that everyone else on the highway saw and dealt with?  The news articles are silent on that question, but we see it all the time.  There a many reasons.  Often it is a tired trucker who has been on the road too long under economic pressure to meet delivery schedules that cannot be met without breaking the rules regarding speed and hours of service. Other times there are effects of medications, pressure medical conditions, distractions.  Sometimes we just can never be sure why things happened.


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.