Articles Posted in Trucking Accidents

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In 2007 a propane truck ran a red light and struck another car. The car’s passenger, Anthony Villa, Jr., suffered fatal wounds and died two days later. An Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought by his wife, which recently settled for $7 million. Cheryl Villa v. Heritage Operating LP, et al., No. 08 L 11922.

The Illinois intersection accident occurred in Matteson, Illinois at the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Lincoln Highway. At the time of the car accident, Villa’s vehicle was attempting to make a left turn onto Lincoln Highway when it was struck by a propane truck owned by Heritage Operating LP. While the truck driver was not injured, Villa was rushed to the hospital with severe wounds. He died as a result of these injuries just two days later.

The wrongful death lawsuit was brought by Villa’s wife and their five children, two of which were minors at the time of their father’s death. The Illinois complaint alleged that the truck driver and his employer were responsible for the truck accident that resulted in Villa’s death. The defendants admitted liability for the intersection accident, confirming that it was caused by the truck driver running the red light.

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On June 24, 2011, a Union Pacific train traveling from Chicago to California was involved in a railroad crossing accident in rural Nevada. A semitrailer truck ran the crossing and struck the moving train, injuring several passengers and killing the truck driver and a crew member. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently conducting an investigation of what caused the crash and how it might have been prevented.

One of the avenues the NTSB is pursuing is whether or not the truck driver’s judgment was impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time of the train crossing accident. However, because the driver died as a result of the crash, the NTSB must examine autopsy records in order to make this determination. In addition, the NTSB is reviewing the truck driver’s driving history in order to gain insight into what might have happened.

The NTSB is also investigating the extent that the railroad itself contributed to the train accident. The NTSB will make sure that its safety standards were followed and that both the crossing lights and gates were operating correctly at the time of the train accident. However, report released by the Nevada Highway Patrol, who is also investigating the crash, stated that the warning lights and railroad gates were working at the time of the train accident.

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Under Illinois workers’ compensation laws, an employee cannot file a civil lawsuit against his or her employer for an injury that occurs within one’s work duties. However, workers’ compensation laws do not protect other entities from liability for injuries that occur in the workplace.

In Timothy McDonald and Judith McDonald v. Imperial Zinc Corp., et al., No. 09 L 1581, the plaintiff truck driver sued a manufacturing company after one of its employee’s negligence caused plaintiff’s work place injury. At the time of the personal injury, Timothy McDonald was loading his truck with goods from Imperial Zinc Corporation.

McDonald was standing on the loading dock when a forklift operator employed by Imperial Zinc Corp. backed over McDonald’s right foot. As a result of the work place injury, McDonald sustained a fractured foot, skin was torn off of his right foot, and a tendon in his left knee was ruptured. Despite extensive medical treatment, McDonald was unable to return to his prior job as a truck driver after this work place injury.

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Given the state of today’s economy, it has become commonplace to hear about companies trying to cut corners, to stretch every dollar, and maximize their workers’ responsibilities. However, UPS workers are raising questions about what cost these continual raised expectations have on workplace safety and employee health.

Like many companies across America, UPS employees are under pressure to increase productivity; however, at the same time UPS is pushing employees to reduce workplace injuries and workers’ compensation claims. These two goals seem contradictory, a point that is being made by both UPS employees and union officials who affirm that the longer hours and increased expectations has in fact resulted in more workplace injuries.

The local Chicago union is making a point to emphasize that their request to reduce employee workloads does not come from a desire to shirk their duties; rather, many UPS employees are committed to the company and applaud it as a good place to work. Take for example 45 year-old Joe Korziuk – he’s worked for UPS for over 20 years, performing a wide range of jobs, including driving tractor trailers, delivering packages, and even washing trucks. However, even this model employee has suffered work injuries, sustaining a concussion after a heavy box fell on him, and is experiencing the wear and tear of twenty years on the job in the form of knee and back pain.

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It is one of the first things you learn in driver’s ed and is repeated over and over again to new drivers: always keep your eyes on the road. However, this advice is useful not only for new drivers, but for experienced drivers, too. Take for instance the case of Benton Chapman, a 44 year-old truck driver who took his eyes off the road to adjust his radio and caused a multiple car accident on an Illinois expressway, Estate of Lafi Nofal, M.D., deceased, et al. v. Benton Chapman, Cardinal Transport, et al., 06 L 2263.

Immediately prior to the Illinois car crash, Chapman was driving a tractor-trailer truck along Illinois Interstate 55. Traffic was flowing at a reasonable speed and Mr. Chapman looked away from the road for a minute to adjust his XM Satellite radio. However, when he looked back to the roadway, Chapman discovered that the flow of traffic had slowed significantly and that he was driving way too fast.

Unfortunately, Chapman didn’t even have enough time to brake before crashing into the car immediately in front of him. Dorothy Walsh, that car’s driver, was killed as a result of the rear-end collision. However, Chapman’s truck did not stop there, but continued in its path, striking another vehicle driven by Magdi Hussein, a bobtail trailer, and three other vehicles. The severity of the Cook County highway accident caused the Stevenson Expressway to be closed for five hours.

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A Cook County jury came to a decision in a Chicago trucking accident case involving a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus driver and a semi-trailer. The truck driver admitted to having caused the truck accident; however, her lawyers contested the extent of the CTA bus driver’s injuries. The Illinois jury returned a verdict of $363,853 in favor of the plaintiff bus driver in Earnestine Johnson v. Marian Pociask, Mr. Bult’s, Inc., 09 L 1613.

At the time of the Chicago truck accident, the plaintiff, Earnestine Johnson, and the defendant truck driver, Marian Pociask, were both driving down Chicago’s LaSalle Street and were both making a left-hand turn onto 47th Street. However, Johnson was making the turn from the left-hand lane, while Pociask was making the turn from LaSalle’s center lane. As Pociask was turning, her truck clipped the right front bumper of Johnson’s bus.

Not only did Pociask’s truck drift into Johnson’s lane, causing the accident, but Pociask was making an illegal left-hand turn from the center, straight-only lane. At the time of the bus accident, Pociask was employed by Mr. Bult’s, a waste transportation company. Both Pociask and her employer were named as defendants at the personal injury trial and both admitted liability for the truck accident.

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A Cook County trucking accident recently resulted in a $675,000 verdict for the plaintiff, who suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the 2005 rear-end collision. The Illinois personal injury case was brought against both the defendant driver and his employer; Heather Davis v. Keith M. Longsine, Schneider National Carriers Inc., 07 L 3098.

The Illinois highway accident occurred in March 2005, during Illinois’s road construction season. The plaintiff, Heather Davis, had come to a complete stop due to the road construction on Illinois Interstate 94 near Thornton, Illinois. However, the truck driven by defendant, Keith Longsine, did not stop and ended up crashing into Davis’s vehicle. At the time of the accident, Longsine was driving a truck owned by his employer, Schneider National Carriers, Inc.

At the Illinois personal injury trial, the plaintiff hired a mechanical engineer to offer opinions as to how fast the defendant was driving at the time of the rear-end crash. The severity of the impact caused Davis’s car to be pushed five feet forward into the rear of a pickup truck stopped in front of her. In addition, Davis’s airbags deployed and her headrest broke off of her driver’s seat. The plaintiff’s engineering expert, Michael Rogers, used this information to opine that the defendant was driving in excess of 33 mph when the trucking accident occurred.

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An Illinois judge approved a $5 million settlement in a trucking accident lawsuit brought by the estate of an Illinois civil attorney who was killed in a two-vehicle accident near Streator, Illinois. The settlement in Estate of Richard J. Berry v. OSF Healthcare System Corp., et al., No. 10 L 14, represents one of the largest personal injury settlements in LaSalle County, Illinois.

The decedent, Richard Berry, was a partner in his own firm and had been practicing law in Illinois since the mid-1970s. Mr. Berry was widely respected in the legal community and was known to be a very capable trial lawyer. The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought by his wife and three adult children, all of which will receive a portion of the Illinois settlement.

The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought against OSF Healthcare System Corp., a Peoria-based company; its subsidiary, OSF Saint Francis, Inc.; and David DeFrance, the other driver involved in the two-vehicle accident which led to Berry’s death. All parties involved contributed to the $5 million settlement to Mr. Berry’s surviving family members.

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On May 25, 2005, the defendants’ 79,000 lbs.Mack truck rear-ended the plaintiff’s Toyota Tundra pickup truck at 10-15 mph. The impact, considered hard by the plaintiff, caused a C4-5 herniation in Keith Gallaugher’s neck and a tear in the posterior longitudinal ligament. The trucking accident eventually led to the filing of Keith Gallaugher v. Roy Cranmer, Arrow Specialized Carriers, Inc., 07 L 172.

About five months after this truck and pickup truck collision, Gallaugher, the driver of the Toyota pickup underwent an interior cervical fusion at C4-5 with bone and plate fixation.

Mr. Gallaugher sought at trial the recovery of $100,000 for loss of normal life and $200,000 for past and future pain and suffering. This was to go along with his medical expenses of $57,366 as well as lost time from work of $6,250.

The defendant admitted negligence, but denied causation and contested the nature and extent of the plaintiff’s injuries. The defendant used a biomechanical scientist to dispute the low-speed impact caused the cervical herniation. In low impact cases, it has become a common occurrence in jury trials for defendants particularly, to present biomechanical expert testimony to dispute the nature and extent of plaintiff’s injuries.

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An Illinois jury recently returned a $4.5 million verdict for a Chicago truck accident lawsuit that resulted in severe spine and back injuries to the plaintiff in Dorman v. Sysco Food Services – Chicago, Inc., et al., No. 07 L 10296. The verdict followed a two-week trial held in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

The Illinois truck accident occurred when the plaintiff, David Dorman, was stopped at a red light in Chicago. While he was sitting at the light, Dorman’s vehicle was rear-ended by a truck owned by Sysco Food Services – Chicago, Inc. The defendant truck driver claimed that his breaks failed as he approached the plaintiff’s car. The high speeds at which the impact occurred were due to the fact that the defendant was exiting the Kennedy Expressway immediately prior to the truck accident.

The impact caused the truck to land on top of the plaintiff’s car and crush his roof, leaving the 31 year-old Dorman with severe neck and back injuries. Dorman required a two-level spinal fusion, two-disc replacement surgery, and a lumbar discectomy to repair the four bulging cervical discs and herniated disc he sustained during the Illinois auto crash.

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