Thousands of passengers and drivers are injured or even killed on America’s highways each year. Many times, these accidents include big rigs. If someone has been injured in an accident involving a semi truck, they may be eligible for a big truck crash settlement.
Just recently, one such fatal accident occurred. During the second week of July 2017, near Kansas City, a semi truck was involved in a fatal accident that killed five people, the Kansas City Star reports.
On Tuesday, July 11, 2017, a semi truck driven by 56-year-old Texas resident, Kenny Ford, was driving along Interstate 70 near Bonner Springs. Around 2:30 pm, traffic bottlenecked and slowed due to a road work zone.
It is reported that other drivers began to merge slowly into the right lane because the left lane was closed because of road construction. This began about a mile away from the actual work zone.
It is not clear what happened next, or why the driver’s big rig crashed into the line of stopped vehicles. But, the truck driven by Kenny crashed into a line of five vehicles that had stopped or were almost stopped. Already stopped were an SUV and another big rig. Three additional sedans were preparing to stop behind the other big rig when Kenny’s truck slammed into the back of the line of cars.
One of the three sedans was pushed into a ditch, another car was pushed against the center divider, and the third was pushed underneath the stopped big rig.
A fire then broke out engulfing the two big rigs as well as the sedan that had been pushed underneath the stopped big rig. Five people died in this accident including the driver of the sedan, and the drivers and passengers of the other two sedans near the back of the line.
No one is sure if the driver was not paying attention or if there was a failure of brakes, but the Kansas Department of Transportation claims that rear-end collisions such as this one are the most common crashes in highway work zones.
Lt. Mark Christensen of the Highway Patrol told the Kansas City Star, “It’s just a freak thing that happened. What it boils down to is, the driver wasn’t paying attention ahead of him, or the road conditions, and he was just going too fast.”
It was reported that construction had been going on for awhile in this area, but no other problems or accidents have happened.
This is just one unfortunate example of roadway hazards involving big rigs and big trucks. Injuries from crashes such as this, however, are not uncommon.
Additionally, the stakes are raised in these types of crashes and more fatalities and serious injuries occur when a big rig is involved. In fact, 415,000 crashes involving big rigs occur each year. 83,000 of these end with serious injuries, and 4,000 people are killed in big rig related auto crashes each year.
If a passenger or driver is injured in a crash like this, he or she may be entitled to a big truck crash settlement. If a loved one is killed in a big rig crash, family members may be entitled to a big truck crash settlement. When a crash like this occurs, investigations ensue as to why a big rig truck driver may or may not be at fault.
If you or someone you love has been involved in a big rig accident, you may be entitled to a big truck crash settlement. For more information, contact the experience attorneys at McDonald Worley.