Farm Truck Hazards On Virginia Highways – A Virginia Truck Accident Injury Lawyer’s Advice

In my 20 years of doing personal injury law especially car and truck wreck accidents I have seen numerous situations where farming equipment was involved. Farming is still one of Virginia’s largest industries. There are some places in the state where it is the primary industry and other places like Suffolk, Virginia where farming is being replaced by other businesses as the suburbs expand outward from the cities.

In places like Suffolk, Virginia is still a lot of farming but there’s a lot of new development and encroachment of city-type traffic pose special dangers to motorists.

First you may not be as ready as you should be for an encounter with a slow-moving tractor or other farm equipment on the highway. They have as much right to be there as you do. During harvest seasons and in the early-morning hours there are often farm vehicles that are on major highways including ones where the speed limit is 55 miles an hour.

The main requirements on farm vehicles is that they are properly set up with warning signs and lights so that they’re clearly marked for other motorists to see them. I once handled a terrible case where a man had his leg cut off as a result of a collision between a delivery vehicle that he was the co-driver in and a cotton gin truck which was about to go into the field to start picking cotton.

The farm truck was slowed down to have a look over into the fields in the early-morning hours to see whether the product was ready to be picked. Unfortunately the owner of the truck did not have all the necessary lights and warning devices on this truck which led to the collision and ultimately a man’s leg being amputated.

If you have been in a collision involving farming equipment and serious injuries have resulted please call me to discuss what your rights are.

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles automobile, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as wrongful death, railroad injury cases and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us at (757) 455 -0077 or contact us through this website.