Sarasota, Fla. — A 56-year-old man sustained serious injuries when his car crashed into a parked semi-truck. The incident happened on Interstate 75 on Wednesday morning.
According to reports, a southbound car veered onto the right shoulder and collided with a semi-truck parked along the side of the road.
The crash caused the car to catch fire.
The driver of the car was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Trucks need to stop using the shoulder of busy highways as parking lots
It’s easy to see this crash as just another unfortunate incident caused by driver error. However, when a collision involves a semi-truck parked on a highway shoulder, we need to dig deeper. Parking a full-size semi-truck next to a moving lane of traffic is extremely dangerous and should be avoided.
In fact, the trucking industry has clear guidelines that warn against parking on the shoulder of busy roadways due to the significant risks it poses. The trucking industry is fully aware of these dangers, and it’s well known that serious accidents can happen when trucks are parked too close to moving traffic. Drivers who choose to park in unsafe areas shouldn’t be allowed to shift the blame onto others when their own actions created the danger in the first place.
Even with all the known dangers, these accidents happen far too often. In a recent case I handled, a young husband and father crashed into a semi-truck parked near a lane of moving traffic. The truck driver claimed he had to stop due to a flat tire and blamed the young man for the collision. However, our investigation uncovered that the tire had been underinflated for a significant period. The trucking company had repeatedly chosen to temporarily inflate the tire instead of replacing it, putting safety at risk. While the blown tire might have seemed like a legitimate reason to stop, it resulted from a deliberate decision to prioritize profits over safety. This choice led to a man’s death and left a child without a father.
Sometimes, reasons for pulling over are even less compelling. We are currently handling a case for the family of a man killed after crashing into the back of a semi-truck on a busy highway. The truck driver pulled into the left shoulder, with the back of the truck only inches from moving traffic. When we questioned the truck driver as to why he would pull over in such a dangerous location, he said he needed to use the bathroom. A man was killed because the trucker needed to use the bathroom.
The injured man has a long road ahead and deserves to know why this truck was parked where it was. No one should have to suffer, lose income, or face mounting medical bills due to someone else’s negligence. If an investigation by trained professionals reveals that negligence or misconduct contributed to this accident, those responsible must be held accountable.
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The Ammons Law Firm represents clients nationwide in personal injury and wrongful death litigation.
Disclaimer: This post is not legal advice. Information contained in this blog was compiled from third-party sources or is the opinion of the author. Please inform us immediately if false or misleading information is contained in this post.
