According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admininistration, in 2004, 248 people died in accidents involving large trucks in Georgia. Driver fatigue is a major cause of those wrecks, but there are insufficient safe spaces along the highways for tractor trailer drivers to pull over to sleep. The Georgia D.O.T. allows truckers to park in…
Continue reading ›Fundraising for judicial elections has often raised eyebrows. However, where a large number of attorneys practicing before court make small contributions to a judge’s election campaign, there is little danger that the judge’s actions will be affected. But now in West Virginia. Don L. Blankenship, chairman and CEO of Massey Energy Co. of Richmond, Va.,…
Continue reading ›I have instructed my staff that if I ever write anything that provokes this kind of response from a court, just take me out and shoot me. A Bankruptcy Court Judge Leif Clark in Texas entered an order on February 21st, denying a motion on the following grounds: The court cannot determine the substance, if…
Continue reading ›This afternoon two tractor trailer wrecks tied up traffic on metro Atlanta freeways. Initial reports were scarce on details about the consequences to motorists involved in the crashes. In Gwinnett County, tractor trailer lost its back wheels, causing a wreck that also involved a Honda Accord and possible injuries. This happened just after 4 p.m.…
Continue reading ›At least seven people died when a tractor-trailer rig from Iowa rear-ended a pickup and both vehicles burst into flames Monday evening on Interstate 10 northwest of Tucson,AZ. The pickup was eastbound near the Pinal County line when it was hit from behind by the 18-wheeler carrying a load of copper. At least seven passengers,…
Continue reading ›On May 1, in the case of Arkansas Dept. of Human Services v. Ahlborn, the U.S. Supreme Court held a State’s Medicaid department will be limited to reimbursement from only that portion of a judgment or settlement that represents payment for medical expenses. States are now prohibited from being reimbursed for Medicaid costs from settlement…
Continue reading ›On I-70 in Missouri, last Friday a tractor trailer that had been speeding and swerving erratically for miles crashed into two other vehicles, killing two people and critically injuring a third. At least two witnesses reported that they had narrowly avoided being hit by the tractor trailer. One said the truck driver “was driving nutty…
Continue reading ›Truck driving is dangerous business. Driver fatigue hurts truckers as well as others on the highway. Yesterday, at 2:13 AM on I-95 in Virginia, a 53-year-old truck driver from Kentucky was critically injured when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel and plunged his truck into a 100-foot deep ravine. According to police he sustained…
Continue reading ›A truck driver who apparently feel asleep at the wheel crossed the median on I-69 and struck a Taylor University van, killing four students and one university employee. Those killed included Taylor students Whitney Cerak, Laurel Erb, Bradley Larson and Elizabeth Smith and Taylor employee Monica Felver. Taylor senior Laura VanRyn and Taylor employee Michele…
Continue reading ›A recent decision in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois uses the Regulatory Guidance to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for a construction of the Regs supporting punitive damages. See Trotter v. B & W Cartage Co., Inc., 2006 WL 1004882 (S.D.Ill.,2006). The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful…
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