Fiery Tractor Trailer Crash Caused by Head-On Collision | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

People spend a lot of time planning for their and their family’s future.  But it is often things in life that we don’t see coming that derail all of those well laid out plans.  Head-on car accidents something that no one sees coming.  In the blink of an eye, entire families can be lost and permanent disabling injuries may incur.  Sussex County, Virginia (VA) investigators have determined that a fatal crash on Route 40 was the result of a head-on collision.  The at fault driver of a Cadillac was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes and struck a tractor trailer head on, causing the tractor trailer to become fully engulfed.  The driver of the big rig survived the fiery collision but the at-fault driver was not so lucky.

If you or your family do become victims of a head-on car crash there are things you can do after the fact to protect yourself.  The first would be to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer.  Our firms Virginia (VA) car accident injury attorneys know that depending on the level of negligence involved in the car accident.  Victims may be able to recover punitive damages as well as personal injury compensation.  What exactly are punitive damages?  They are a type of “punishment” compensation that arises out of the grossly negligent or egregiously bad acts such as those of a drunk driver. While other injury case compensation is paid to cover the injuries and harm that has been caused to the victim, punitive damages are paid as a form of punishment to the driver who caused the drunk driving accident.

There is not enough information yet to know why the at-fault driver in the Sussex County head-on accident lost control of his vehicle but the following are some common causes:

  • Driver distractions, such as eating while driving, using the car stereo, reaching for something within the car, talking on the cell phone while driving, or texting while driving.

  • Speeding, which leads to drifting out of the lane while rounding curves or losing control of the vehicle altogether.

  • Driver inattention, could cause a driver to drift into the other lane.

  • Driver fatigue, which could cause a driver to fall asleep behind the wheel.

  • Over correction while driving, Could jerk the vehicle out of the way of an obstacle but then into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

No matter what the cause of the head-on collision the result is still the same.  The victim’s life is changed forever whether due to loss of life, loss of a passenger’s life, or permanent injury.  Click here to read about a head-on crash case verdict that our firm handled.

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