On this blog, we have cited truck accident statistics several times. The numbers are quite devastating. The fact that these vehicles are larger, heavier, and often packed with several thousands of pounds of added weight make them extremely deadly in a crash. However, truck accidents don’t always involve professional truckers.
It sounds crazy, but it is the truth. Consider the following fatal accidents, neither of which had a professional trucker on-site.
MOVING TRUCK LOADED BY INDIVIDUALS
In Georgia, police are still investigating the death of a 29-year-old resident. The man was standing in the driveway of his new residence when the moving truck ran him over. The truck included all his earthly possessions. Behind the wheel, one would not find a man or woman hired by a trucking company, or an independently operating trucker, but rather a 64-year-old woman. She was the mother of the young man who was fatally struck before the U-Haul truck smashed through the side of the apartment building and into another couple’s home.
Mother and son were relocating from Louisiana, according to Atlanta’s WSB-TV. The police have announced that there have been no charges pressed related to the accident. However, they are having the truck and trailer inspected to ensure that the fatality wasn’t a result of mechanical defects.
SOUNDS LIKE A MOVIE STUNT BUT IT IS NOT
In Iowa, another moving truck accident has many shuddering, as local media recounts the story of a man falling from the side of the vehicle, while traveling at reckless speeds.
This sounds like something from a Hollywood movie, but it is not make believe. The man was said to be clinging to the side of the truck, according to eye witnesses. He failed to hold on when the driver wildly maneuvered the vehicle down the road. It was already dark, having occurred just past 10:00PM. Later reports indicated that there were drugs involved, and the driver – just 17 years old – has been charged with First Degree Murder and First Degree Robbery. The deceased young man was 19 years old and was attempting to stop the driver from fleeing the scene. The 17-year-old reportedly stole marijuana from the other teen before causing his death.
MAN ILL WHILE MOVING HOUSEHOLD GOODS
In Massachusetts, another teen met a similar fate when he fell from a moving truck. In this case, the moving vehicle was an oversized pick-up truck, being used to haul household possessions. The young man wasn’t feeling well. He had leaned out the open window to vomit when he lost his grip and managed to slip through, out onto the roadway. The impact to the head took his life. His death is being ruled a horrible accident. No one else was injured in the truck accident.
Whether in Georgia, Massachusetts, Iowa, or right here, in St. Petersburg, the truth is that truck accidents do happen and innocent lives can be claimed. The driver is not always a professional because moving trucks and other large pick-ups can be driven without training, education, or employment. But, you do have rights regardless. If you are injured in a truck accident, you should speak to a personal injury attorney. You may be entitled to compensation for damages suffered.
Truck accidents take many lives each year, some of those incidents occur very close to our Saint Petersburg homes. It is important to respect the vehicle, and to understand that the person behind the wheel could be a novice.