Yet Another Semi Rear-End Accident Results In Construction Allegations Also

Semi-truck rear-end collisions. What are those all about? Well, they happen a lot, too often, actually, and they tend to happen more in construction zones where traffic slows than elsewhere. Recently, three people died in a seven-car pile-up in South Carolina. A tractor-trailer smashed into the back of the line of stopped motorists near a construction chute.

The chute was created to hem in traffic over two lanes while another lane was being added. However, among the allegations leveled by survivors or family members of the deceased, the chute left nowhere that the cars could go once the semi slammed into the back.

The truck driver 

Do you know how an accident is always your fault if you rear-end someone else? Well, that’s not true. But what is true is that the law will assume you are at-fault in a rear-end collision unless you can prove otherwise. So, there is an assumption of guilt, but not automatic guilt from a rear-end collision.

As it happens, rear-end collisions are almost always the fault of the trailing driver. This is especially true in cases where traffic has slowed. The problem for truck drivers is that their vehicles brake much more slowly than commuter vehicles. That means that their reaction time has to be at least twice as superior to your average driver.

So, the truck driver is at fault for this accident regardless of any other considerations. The plaintiff has seen fit to include other defendants as well including the construction contractor that hemmed in the road using chutes.

Construction negligence injuries 

The plaintiff contends that the construction companies that were tasked with widening the road set up a death trap that made a serious accident inevitable. Essentially, traffic slowed through the narrowing of the passage and eventually stopped entirely. A reckless semi-truck driver slams into the back of the line forcing all the other vehicles up. These vehicles have no place to go, get wedged in and crushed together by the massive semi. Three people died as a result of the accident.

Multiple and various liability 

While the truck driver caused the accident, the construction company is alleged to have contributed liability by designing the road with a chute that caused the line of vehicles to be crushed together. Obviously, the truck driver is responsible for the rear-end collision, but the truck driver may not be responsible entirely for the fact that the collision was fatal. While fatalities do occur in rear-end collisions, a rear-end collision is much less likely to lead to fatality than a head-on collision. Hence, the construction company contributed to circumstances that made the collision deadlier.

Talk to a Miami Semi-Truck Accident Attorney Today 

Injured in a semi-truck accident? You’re not alone. The NHTSA is reporting an increasing number of fatal accidents involving trucking companies. Call the Miami personal injury attorneys at Payer Law today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.

Resource:

thestate.com/news/upstate/article254596282.html