Spokane Car-Truck Crash Highlights Risk

A collision on Argonne Road recently underscored the danger that large truck crashes pose to motorists in smaller vehicles. The driver of the car later died from her injuries, a result that is tragically all too common in situations like this. When a crash involves a large truck and a smaller vehicle, not only is the risk of serious injury or death greater than when two smaller vehicles collide, but it’s usually the occupants of the smaller vehicle who suffer most.

Very Bad Odds

According to the preliminary report, on March 11th at approximately 4:00 a.m. near the intersection of Argonne and Bigelow Gulch Road, a passenger car with a single occupant crossed the centerline and collided with a semi-truck traveling in the opposite direction. As you can see from this photo taken at the scene, this kind of collision is extremely destructive.

Truck crashes account for about 3 percent of all crashes with injuries or property damage but account for more than 8 percent of crash fatalities. When a passenger vehicle and a truck or other large commercial vehicle collide, the damage is particularly lopsided in favor of the truck. Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) claims that when there is a fatality in a crash between these two types of vehicle, the driver killed is the one driving the passenger car an astounding 97 percent of the time.

This is mostly the result of simple physics. Even though safety features such as air bags, crumple zones, and anti-lock brakes are often better in cars, a fully loaded semi-truck can weigh more than twenty times the average American car on the road today. In situations like this, it doesn’t matter who is at fault, the car and its occupants are at much greater risk than those in the truck.

Stay Alert and Drive Safely

Collisions between passenger vehicles and large trucks are not uncommon—in fact, ten to fifteen happen in Washington State every day. Most are minor and only result in property damage or less serious injuries, but between thirty and fifty motorists are killed in crashes like this in Washington each year. About twice that many suffer serious injury.

Drivers should always use caution around trucks, buses, and other large vehicles. Besides being much heavier than a passenger car, they are not as maneuverable and can’t stop as quickly as smaller vehicles. Their size also means that a truck’s driver can’t always see smaller vehicles nearby. No matter how well the mirrors are positioned, a car can disappear into a truck’s blind spot, and no driver is good enough to react to something that he or she can’t even see.

Spokane Truck Accident Lawyers

If you’ve been in a crash involving a semi or other large commercial vehicle, it’s a good idea to have experienced legal help on your side. The state and federal laws and regulations that apply to trucks can be complex, and dealing with insurance companies can be difficult. The victims of truck collisions deserve help covering medical bills, property damage, and lost wages and income. Turn to Craig Swapp & Associates for assistance. Our office understands truck accident law, and we offer a free review of your case to help you decide how to move forward. Use the free LiveChat application from any part of our website for quick answers to your questions. You can also call us at 800-404-9000 or contact us online today.

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Rollover Accidents All Too Common

Several recent high-profile motor vehicle accidents in the Salt Lake City area have brought attention to a particularly dangerous type of crash: rollovers. Two rollovers were reported less than a week apart and almost within sight of each other on State Street on March 20th and March 26th. No one was seriously injured in either. On the same day as the second accident, however, a crash on I-15 in Beaver County resulted in the death of a forty-eight-year-old woman after the driver of the pickup she was in lost control and rolled several times after striking the median. That accident was blamed on winter storm conditions.

A Dangerous Pattern

National statistics note that rollovers make up only a small fraction of all crashes: less than 3 percent. Unfortunately, they are disproportionately dangerous. More than one-third of all crash deaths happen in rollovers, which are particularly deadly when the vehicle occupants aren’t restrained by seat belts. Rollovers are often blamed on high speed, and, perhaps surprisingly, around 85 percent of all rollovers involve only a single vehicle.

The Salt Lake City area has certainly seen its share of rollovers, and they seem to bear out the larger statistical pattern. In February, a woman was seriously injured when she rolled on I-15 near Riverdale; a tire blowout was blamed for another February rollover on I-15 which injured five people. A long list of similar accidents can be found in the news from over the past year: in October, a man was critically injured when he drove off the road and rolled in Hooper; one person was killed and at least three were injured in separate rollovers in August, one on I-15 in Millard County and another in Taylorsville; in July, a passenger was critically injured when the car she was in went off the road and rolled in Hobble Creek Canyon.

One thing all of these incidents, and many others, have in common is that all were single-vehicle crashes. But it’s not always the driver of a rolled-over vehicle who is at fault.

Contributing Factors Matter

Rollovers, like all types of vehicle crashes, have many contributing factors. Uncorrected road hazards, weather conditions, faulty vehicle parts, and the actions of other drivers can all be involved. In these cases, the victims of a crash might be able to prove that someone else was responsible. For example, the rollover of a bus with twenty-two children on board in Kansas last year was determined to be entirely the driver’s fault because he ran a stop sign and attempted to turn on to a highway at high speed. Defective tires have been found to be the reason behind other rollovers.

Experienced Auto Accident Lawyers

If you have been the victim of a rollover crash, give the offices of Craig Swapp & Associates a call. We understand car accident law and offer a free consultation to discuss the details of your case. You can reach us at 800-404-9000 or contact us online. You can also use the LiveChat feature on any page of this website to have someone answer your questions.

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Firefighter Cancer Claim Law Improves

In a move that will help push the rights of all injured workers forward, Idaho has enacted a new law that will make it easier for firefighters to receive worker’s compensation for cancer claims resulting from exposures on the job. The bill cleared both houses of the state legislature in mid March, and was signed by the Governor on March 31st. The new law changes the way cancer claims will be reviewed, fixing a process which used a standard of proof described by one legislator as “near impossible” for workers to meet.

Change a Long Time Coming

Firefighters have wanted this change for a long time, and similar measures have been proposed over the past sixteen years. Under the old process, when a firefighter was diagnosed with cancer he or she was required to prove that it was caused by work exposure. The new law includes a list of eleven cancers and specifies that if a firefighter is stricken with any of them, it will be “presumed to be…caused by the firefighter’s employment as a firefighter.” This doesn’t guarantee compensation, but any firefighting agency that wants to avoid paying a claim now has to prove that something else caused the cancer. Lung cancer is not on the list, and using tobacco products exempts firefighters from the new protections.

Cancer: Worker’s Compensation and Social Security

Cancer is a major cause of illness in the US, and many cases have been traced back to exposure to dangerous substances while on the job. In some cases, however, as with the old Idaho statute, a worker may face the burden of proving that a cancer was caused by an occupational exposure. The rules for cancer claims under worker’s compensation vary from state to state and sometimes by cancer to cancer. They might even be different for different kinds of workers. In Colorado, for example, firefighters can claim bladder cancer as an occupational injury if they have more than five years of service. In California, under certain circumstances a lifeguard can receive worker’s compensation for skin cancer.

The Federal Social Security system, through Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), will often pay benefits to workers who have been afflicted with cancer or to their families. A worker who has suffered additional disability as a result of cancer or cancer treatment (such as injuries due to the side effects of chemotherapy) may also be eligible for benefits. These benefits are not delivered automatically, however, and the Social Security Administration sometimes denies claims if they are not documented properly or if some other aspect of the filing process is not completed to their satisfaction.

Idaho Disability Benefits Lawyers

If you or a member of your family has been injured and is unable to work, temporarily or permanently, it’s a good idea to have a knowledgeable attorney available to help you navigate the benefits system. Whether a worker’s injury has been caused by an accident on the job or through long-term exposure to a dangerous substance, the worker or his or her family is entitled to benefits. Social Security Disability is an insurance program that all workers pay into, and which all workers can expect to be able to lean upon in their time of need.

Craig Swapp & Associates is an experienced Boise Social Security Disability law firm and can help you get past-due benefits as well as future compensation. We offer a free consultation to discuss your case, and we charge you nothing unless the Social Security Administration approves your claim. Call us at 800-404-9000 or contact us online. You can also use the LiveChat feature on any page of our website to ask questions at any time.

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