Georgia Truck Accident Attorney Blog

Today a tour bus carrying the Morehouse College band to a football game in Albany hydroplaned, crashed and overturned on I-75 in Henry County, south of Atlanta.

The incident immediately brought to mind the crash of a tour bus carrying the Bluffton University baseball team as it passed through Atlanta on I-75 in 2007, and the crash of a University of West Georgia cheerleader van on I-20 in 1997. I was part of the joint prosecution group in both of those cases.

Several Morehouse band members were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, while others were taken by a transfer bus to be checked out fro injuries.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 CFR §392.14 requires:

Extreme caution in the operation of a commercial motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by . . . rain . . . adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed shall be reduced when such conditions exist.

The Commercial Drivers License Manual directs that speed should be lowered one-third below the posted speed limit in rainy conditions.

Chances are the bus has a data recorder to document the speed before the bus hydroplaned. My educated hunch is that the speed had not been reduced by one-third.

Continue reading " Bus crashes & overturns on I-75 with Morehouse College band " »

A 25 year old Hahira woman was killed on October 20th when an 18 wheeler from Ohio ran a stop sign and her car crashed under the side of the trailer.

Christian Jennings at WALB-TV in Albany, reported that Julie Tyler, who made pictures of school children as a photographer for LifeTouch Portraits, was killed instantly in a side underride with a big rig operated by William Fishbaugh, 61, of Ohio. He was held at the Worth County jail on charges of running a stop sign, reckless driving and first degree vehicular homicide.

According to Georgia State Trooper Scott McClure, "The tractor trailer drug the vehicle down the road about 500 feet." McClure continued, "He was unfamiliar with the area, but that's more reason to pay attention while you're out driving." .

Fishbaugh is a driver for Dutch Maid Logistics, Inc., based in Willard, Ohio. Dutch Maid is an interstate motor carrier with 91 power units, specializing in refrigerated shipments of fresh produce.

A troubling piece of information is that Dutch Maid has had dramatically unsatisfactory driver safety ratings for each of the last six biannual reporting periods. Moving violation data on Dutch Maid during that time period does not identify individual drivers. Reports of out of service violations by Dutch Maid drivers have primarily involved violation of driver impairment, fatigue and hours of service rules.

Earlier this year, Dutch Maid lost an appeal of a suit against its former insurance carrier over liability insurance issues arising out of a 2001 Michigan crash caused by an inattentive Dutch Maid driver in which two people were killed.

Dutch Maid Logistics is also a defendant in another negligence lawsuit in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2008.

Continue reading " Hahira woman killed in side underride crash when Ohio trucker runs stop sign " »

As a trucking accident trial attorney in Atlanta, it may appear that I'm always focusing on the negative about truckers, even though I'm often representing innocent truckers against other truckers who injure them.

This Sunday, I want to call attention to a more positive story about truckers. CNN ran a profile of Rev. Joe Hunter, chaplain to truckers, who reaches his mobile congregation reaches out to truckers at fuel stops, in parking lots, on the CB and through a radio show called "Heaven's Road." He holds worship services at Wednesday night service at the Truckers Chapel at a truck stop on I-75 south of Atlanta.

Just as it is tough for truck drivers to find nutritious food at places where an 18 wheeler can easily park, Rev. Hunter points out that most churches can't park an 18 wheelers.

Continue reading " Truckers Chapel at truck stop on I-75 south of Atlanta " »