The recent highway tragedy in Lima, Ohio, off of I-75 brings into the forefront an important discussion. The wreck that left 21 people injured and 1 dead on the interstate happened because a 75-year-old man who was operating a tractor-trailer. The driver seems to have been attempting to slow down due to another accident that already occurred and wrecked into 9 other vehicles. One car was even completely flipped while other vehicles were crushed and smashed with terrified victims inside.
This is the kind of toll that tractor-trailers can cause. Drivers of tractor trailers are responsible for significant loads of enormous freight that can easily smash through a number of vehicles before they come to a rest. Tractor Trailers don’t behave like a common sedan or SUV. Their size takes extra time to slow down with their brake systems to come to a complete stop. This report from the Utah State Government explains how the distance-to-stopped for a tractor trailer traveling at 65 mph is roughly the distance of two football fields! It doesn’t take but a few seconds of distraction for a driver of a tractor-trailer to prevent them from beginning to brake on-time to prevent two football fields of potential wreckage and mayhem.
The devastating wreck off of I-75 is a palpable reminder of the need for driver awareness with those who operate up to 80-thousand pound loads. The typical vehicle is only 3 or 4 thousand pounds in comparison. It is not unlike a distracted NFL Linebacker running full-speed through a line of Pre-school children. The damage is inevitable when that kind of negligence occurs. The quality and training of the people behind the wheel of a semi matters. Their attention to the road matters greatly; the costs of inattentiveness are devastating.
At Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima we are experienced and proven with our results against negligent truck drivers. These results can speak for themselves. They are the kind of results that our clients who are victims of 80-thousand-ton-carnage warrant. The horrible consequences of those life-altering crashes motivate us to get every ounce of justice that our clients deserve. We have done so, and we will continue to do so. We have a team of lawyers that are dedicated to these particular kinds of cases for victims of tractor-trailer crashes. If you have been the victim of an irresponsible tractor trailer crashing into you, please contact us today for a free consultation.