Yes, you can sue a trucking, construction or garbage collection company for an injury caused by debris falling off of a truck if there is evidence that the company was legally responsible. These cases involve:
- a part falling off of the vehicle (for example, a wheel); or
- something that is being hauled falling (for example, a log off of a logging truck or a hunk of dirt from a dump truck).
Just last week, a semi driver was killed when he tried to avoid a load of mattresses and box springs that were falling from a second truck. Also last week, a FedEx truck dumped thousands of letters and packages along the Central Florida Parkway, creating a hazard and closing that highway overnight. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 800 deaths are caused each year in the United States due to litter and debris on the road.
Examples of debris on the road:
- Rocks and gravel — Perhaps the most common type of debris on the road are rocks and gravel escaping from dump trucks leaving a quarry.
- Garbage — Waste removal trucks are another common source of road debris. In most cases, the debris is trash, but attorney Fred Pritzker also handled a case where a wheel came off, fell off of a bridge and crashed through the windshield of a car, killing the driver.
- Container truck items — Sometimes a container truck’s doors will fly open sending merchandise of all sorts across the road without warning.
- Grease and oil — Debris can also be liquid. Grease or cooking oil leaking from a tanker truck can hamper road traction and cause skids, fishtailing and spin-outs.
- Shipping containers and vehicles — Large flat-bed rigs and trucks transporting vehicles present a unique road hazard due to the cargo’s large weight and size. When a item falls from one of these rigs, the results can be tragic. In Long Beach, California a shipping container fell and killed a man riding a bicycle.
- Hay Bale — In Minnesota recently, a flat truck took a turn in the road and lost large, round bales of hay. One hay bale hit a pickup truck, causing the wrongful death of a husband and wife.
Legal Help
If you or someone you care about has been injured or killed in an accident involving debris on the road, our lawyers can help. This type of situation is too important not to have someone who is intimately familiar with the applicable laws protect your rights and those of your family. The consequences are just too long-lasting to leave to the mercy of the trucker’s insurance company. To learn more and to schedule a free case analysis with a truck accident lawyer at our law firm, call our office today at 1-888-377-8900 or use our online free consultation form.