Tractor Trailer Crash Yields $36.5 Million Award To Crash Victim's Family
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In April 2004, Thomas Steven, a Wichita businessman and father of eight, was killed in an automobile accident due to the negligence of Steven Jones, a Swift tractor trailer driver. Swift is one of the largest trucking companies in the United States, hauling goods and cargo for such companies as Wal-Mart, Target, and Rite-Aid. Jones failed to slow down on a sweeping flat curve leading to an intersection even after driving over three sets of rumble strips, which are designed to warn drivers that a stop sign controlled intersection is approaching. Jones then proceeded to run through the stop sign and crashed into Steven's Chevrolet Suburban, resulting in Steven's death and seriously injuring two passengers in the Stevens car.
Steven's family sued Swift and was awarded $36.5 million in damages by a jury. Swift would not release the driver logs they were required to keep under federal regulations. These logs may have potentially been even more damaging to the case because they may have shown whether the driver had driven more than the federally mandated time allowed under law, and therefore may have been fatigued at the time of the accident.
While most truck drivers are good drivers and obey the rules of the road, there are many who, in an effort to meet deadlines and earn more money - generally the more they haul and the faster they deliver goods the more they earn - exceed federally mandated limits for the number of hours that can be driven per day. This practice may lead to more tractor trailer accidents than normally would be seen. Unfortunately, I have seen too many tractor trailer accidents destroy the lives of individuals and their families. Often times these accidents could have easily been avoided had the drivers followed applicable federal regulations.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Tractor trailer accidents.