Blogs

How long truckers can drive may be reduced

When I drive long distances, I get sleepy and tired.  Don't you?  I stop and get coffee or stretch my legs or become the passenger.  Why?  Because I don't want to fall asleep at the wheel.  I don't want my senses to be so dulled that I can't react to the cars and trucks around me.

Speaking of those trucks, did you know that during the Bush administration, the regulations limiting how long truckers could drive were changed?  The Bush administration, bowing to the wishes of the trucking industry, changed the rule and allowed long-haul truckers to drive 11 straight hours.  Before that, the rule for 60 years had been that they could drive 10 straight hours.  At the same time that the driving hours were increased, the required rest time at the end of the work week was cut from 50 hours off to 34 hours off.  Why?  Because the trucking industry could make more money if its drivers could drive that extra hour and take less time off.

According to its website, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is "focused on reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses."  For some reason, it chose profits of the trucking industry over the safety of the driving public (including those truckers) during the Bush administration.  Twice, a federal appeals court struck down the rule that expanded hours for truckers and, twice, the Bush administration reinstated the rule. 

Driver fatigue is one of the causes of accidents involving large trucks.  I, for one, am glad that the Obama administration is reconsidering the present rule and its effect on our safety.

Another fatal tractor-trailer crash on Interstate-81 in Virginia

At about 11:30 p.m. Monday night, April 20, 2009, a tractor-trailer carrying hazardous material ran into the median going southbound on Interstate 81 near mile marker 284 (Woodstock, VA).   A fiery explosion occurred when the tractor-trailer then hit another tractor-trailer.  Three people were killed, I-81 was closed for hours, homes in the Woodstock area were evacuated, and schools were closed in Shenandoah County. 

Our highways are crowded and dangerous, and I-81 is notorious for heavy tractor-trailer traffic in Virginia.  When tractor-trailers are involved in collisions, results are often disasterous.  2007 was a very bad year for victims of tractor-trailer accidents, worse than in 2006.  According to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, statistics for 2007 crashes involving tractor-trailers are up from 2006:

13 tractor-trailer occupants killed
397 tractor-trailer occupants injured
4,038 tractor-trailer crashes
            67 fatal crashes
            1,777 personal injury crashes
            2,794 property damage crashes
            62 hazardous materials tractor-trailer crashes
76 people were killed in tractor-trailer crashes

There are special rules and regulations that apply to tractor-trailers on the highways in Virginia.  Contact the lawyers at Weiner, Rohrstaff & Spivey if you or a loved one has been involved in a tractor-trailer accident in Virginia.  Call us at 703-273-9500, contact us through our website at www.WRSattorneys.com, or email me directly at srohrstaff@wrsattorneys.com. 

Wheel flies off truck on beltway, kills young woman

The Washington Post recently reported about another senseless loss of life on the beltway.  

On Thursday, January 22, Channing Quinichett was driving on the beltway in Maryland, heading to a prenatal massage appointment.  She died when her car was hit by a wheel that had broken off a delivery truck that was being towed to a repair shop.  The wheel bounced wildly, hit the grill of a tractor-trailer, ricocheted off the shoulder and three travel lanes before it hit Ms. Quinichett's Honda Civic.

Several years ago, I was part of a team of lawyers that represented the family of a young woman who was killed in a similar incident on the beltway.  A cracked brake drum broke away from the truck, flew across lanes of travel and struck our client who was a passenger in a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.  The company that owned the truck had not inspected the brake drum, so the crack grew until the drum split open while the truck was traveling at highway speeds.  Proper inspection of that truck would have revealed the crack in the brake drum, the truck would have been taken out of service and repaired.  Proper inspection of the delivery truck being towed on Thursday likely could have revealed a problem with the wheel. Did  check on the condition of the truck that was being towed before it got up to highway speeds on the beltway?

My heart goes out to Ms. Quinichett's friends and family.

Truck Driver who killed three people last month on I-81 is out of jail on bond

I posted a blog last month about the deadly crash on Interstate 81 near New Market, Virginia.  According to witnesses, the driver of an 18-wheeler tractor trailer rig was going too fast for the snow and ice conditions.  Jose Sarmiento was charged with involuntary manslaughter for causing the deaths of Serena Ryman's 21-month-old daughter, four-year-old son and mother who were all killed when the tractor trailer ran into the rear of their vehicle.

Sarmiento posted bond this week and is now out of jail.

There is no way to bring back the family of Ms. Ryman, but we can only hope that either Sarmiento or the Ryman family has enough insurance coverage to provide the only thing our justice system can provide the family -- compensation for their losses.

What a terrible loss this family has suffered. 

Multi-vehicle Pile-up on Virginia Interstate 81 Leaves Three People Dead

Tragedy struck once again on Interstate 81 in the Shenandoah Valley on Friday, November 21, 2008.  At about 11:20 a.m., with snow flurries and slick roads, Jose Alberto Sarmiento was driving an18-wheeler tractor-trailer southbound on I-81 at Mount Jackson -- going too fast for the conditions.  He hit several cars that had slowed because of the weather conditions.  One witness, Tony Coronado, an off-duty EMT from Manassas, saw Sarmiento fly by just before he crashed into the cars. 

Three people died, two of them small children.  Two others were injured as well.

Sarmineto has been charged with reckless driving.

Soutbound traffic on I-81 was at a standstill for several hours as emergency personnel worked to rescue the injured victims and police performed their investigation. 

I cannot imagine the heartache of the people who lost their family members. 

Driver Killed in Beltway Collision with Tractor Trailer

Early Thursday morning, November 13, a young woman from Burke, Virginia, 21-year-old Ryan Monahan, was killed on the beltway in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County.  The initial report is that Monahan was traveling in the center lane of the outer loop near Van Dorn Street when she tried to change into the left lane in front of a tractor-trailer.  The driver of the tractor-trailer, who was not hurt in the collision, said that he swerved in an attempt to keep from hittting the Toyota sedan driven by Ms. Monahan, but that he was too colose and could not prevent the collision.

Ms. Monahan was not wearing a seatbelt.

The initial investigation report sounds like the tractor-trailer was in the left lane.  My question is what was the tractor-trailer doing in the left lane?  Is this an area of the beltway where tractor-trailers are allowed to be in the left lane?