Truck Drivers Are Often the Victims of Wrecks Caused by Other Truckers

If you’ve ever driven down the highway on Interstate 81 (I-81) in the western part of Virginia from Roanoke to Winchester you’ve probably seen the lines of big rigs one after the next, after the next.  This is a major corridor for truck traffic coming through the mid Atlantic region.  Chain reaction wrecks are bad enough when they involve passenger cars but if you get a whole series of three or more 18 wheelers running into each other front to back then you have a recipe for a real disaster including potentially the spilling of hazardous materials and fire risks.  The issues about truck driver safety are as important to truck drivers as anyone else.

Many times in my career doing personal injury litigation for 25 years in Virginia I have seen that it is a commercial driver who ends up being seriously injury like losing a leg or killed by the fault of another commercial driver who was not doing the right thing on the road.  I’ve represented co-drivers whose own driver made a serious error causing them to be injured in a collision.  I’ve represented truck drivers who have been run into from behind by other truck drivers on the highway.  I’ve represented truck drivers who have run into another truck which was improperly stopped on the highway without appropriate warning equipment being used.  In each of these situations a good safe driver had his career or even life cut short as a result of mistakes made by another trucker who was not being safe.

Because commercial truck drivers spend so much time on the road they are more likely than other drivers who may just be on the road for commuting to and from work to be involved in a collision.  When these collisions involve other big rigs the results are often huge wrecks because the weight of the vehicles is so great.  Often the resulting injuries whether burns or traumatic brain injury can be life altering and result in people having to leave the profession as a truck driver because they cannot physically do it anymore.

Why do truck drivers drive trucks? For the money.  Trucking pays reasonably well because there’s such a demand to move freight in this country and it is a tough job so employers have to pay somewhat of a premium particularly for an experienced truck driver.  So if a truck driver’s earning $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 and they get knocked out of their job for the rest of their work lives, their economic losses alone with respect to losing their livelihood is an incredible loss to them, their spouses and their children.  These economic losses are just the beginning of the problems faced by truckers who are hurt on the job in accidents involving other truck drivers.  Further there are medical bills to contend with not to mention pain and suffering and the other harms and losses that come with permanent injuries and losing your chosen career.  The job of a truck driver is a tough one often made tougher by mistakes or even recklessness by commercial drivers in other big rigs who are not doing the same good safe job that they should be.

If you are a truck driver who has lost his or her livelihood due to an accident with another big rig, or a different vehicle, you may have grounds to bring a lawsuit.