By: Russell Keener  —  August 18, 2011
 

Two weeks ago, the dri­ver of a tractor-trailer rig was killed when the truck he was dri­ving left the road­way and even­tu­ally landed in the woods after cross­ing the south­bound lanes of High­way 411.  Upon impact with the trees, the tractor-trailer burst into flames trap­ping the dri­ver who died at the scene.  As an expe­ri­enced Atlanta work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion, truck acci­dent and prod­ucts lia­bil­ity law firm we know that the results of this crash was hor­ri­ble for the fam­ily of the truck dri­ver and could have been even more dev­as­tat­ing had the truck encoun­tered traf­fic in the south­bound lanes.

An eye­wit­ness to the acci­dent, Joe Schul­man of Cartersville, was dri­ving behind the truck when the acci­dent took place.  Schul­man stated that the truck began to fish tail vio­lently, at which point the dri­ver made a hard left turn. Schul­man said that it looked as though the dri­ver of the tractor-trailer rig was attempt­ing to turn on to a road although no road existed.  The dri­ver struck a tree at which point the cab was totally engulfed in flames.  Schul­man then called 911.

At the time of the acci­dent it was believed that the dri­ver of the truck was a 33-year-old Lawrenceville man, although his iden­tity was not revealed pend­ing noti­fi­ca­tion of fam­ily.  Fol­low­ing the acci­dent all lanes of High­way 411 were blocked for over an hour.

Watch For the Pos­si­bil­ity of Mul­ti­ple Claims

Sadly, that the dri­ver of the truck lost his life.  The fam­ily of the truck dri­ver is cov­ered by Geor­gia Work­ers’ Com­pen­sa­tion law.  There is also cov­er­age for oth­ers who depended on his income through Work­ers’ comp.  It does not mat­ter whether the acci­dent was the truck driver’s  fault or not.  There could be fur­ther help for the fam­ily if the wreck was caused by a road defect or prod­uct fail­ure of the truck.  It is impor­tant to promptly call a qual­i­fied law firm to con­duct an imme­di­ate inves­ti­ga­tion before the evi­dence dis­ap­pears or is tam­pered with.  These multi-claim cases can be time con­sum­ing and com­plex.  And not some­thing you need to han­dle on your own.  Call a qual­i­fied law firm imme­di­ately if you or a loved one has been involved in a job-related injury.

If you are hot by a “big rig” you need to know your rights.

Pas­sen­ger cars and small trucks are no match for big com­mer­cial trucks.  18 wheel­ers and tractor-trailer rigs  often weigh as much as 80,000 lbs. when loaded.  Dri­vers are often fatigued due to lack of sleep.  They are often run­ning on over-time in order to make a sched­uled pick-up or deliv­ery appoint­ment.  Speed­ing, faulty equip­ment, alco­hol, drugs, dri­ving too fast for road or weather con­di­tions; there are count­less rea­sons that may fac­tor in to a truck accident.

When you or a loved one are injured in an acci­dent involv­ing a big truck it is rec­om­mended that you con­sult with a trusted Atlanta truck acci­dent attor­ney. You have rights, and those rights should be pro­tected.  Truck­ing com­pa­nies often have their own rep­re­sen­ta­tives that they will send to the scene of an acci­dent, often to limit their own lia­bil­ity.  Con­tact a skilled Geor­gia truck acci­dent lawyer to learn whether you may be enti­tled to compensation.