Did you know that there were 15,000 truck bridge strikes in the United States 2010, which caused 214 deaths and over 3,000 serious injuries? Not only are trucks striking bridges a serious problem, it is also a problem that could be getting worse because of the growing popularity of GPS navigational devices. Just last week, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer asked the Department of Transportation to investigate the connection between GPS systems and commercial truck bridge accidents.
However, it is important to know that these accidents occur in a number of ways:
• A trucker follows the route suggested by a GPS unit without checking for height restrictions.
• A trucker ignores signs warning of low-clearance bridges.
• A trucker travels on a road that is closed to commercial trucks over a certain size.
• A trucker is distracted or inattentive when approaching a low-clearance bridge or when merging onto a road closed to large trucks.
• A truck is carrying an illegal load that is too tall to clear bridges.
• A trucking company routes a truck through an area that has low-clearance bridges.
As you might imagine, a truck-bridge collision can have serious consequences and cause devastating injuries – both to the truck as well as to those in the area. A truck bridge strike sometimes causes traffic behind the truck to slam into the back of the tractor-trailer. In other cases, the truck may cause enough damage to the bridge above it that vehicles using the bridge are affected.
If you have been injured in a Virginia commercial truck accident involving a bridge strike – or any traffic accident in that was caused by someone else’s negligence – you may wish to speak with a Virginia Beach personal injury attorney. Call Shapiro & Appleton& Duffan today to request a free, private case evaluation.
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