Texas work injury lawyers note that an Australian doctor who has been treating first responders who cleaned a toxic truck cargo spill that occurred in 1980 indicates that authorities have been trying to deflect responsibility in the incident and that they ought to pony up compensation for the suffering victims. Dr. John Mackay claims that rescue and clean-up workers received chemical and radiation exposure that has taken a severe toll on their health. One worker was discharged from his job as medically unfit as early as 1984. Dr. Mackay has noted a group of 11 chemical and radiation symptoms in the patients he continues to treat since the 1980 toxic cargo spill.
Some of these symptoms are shared by a group of construction workers who became ill on the job near Port Macquarie recently. Our Texas work injury lawyers know that you might recall that several construction workers became ill recently when they inadvertently exposed the toxic cargo’s burial site during a Pacific Highway upgrade project in New South Wales, AU.
The environmental impact report and other documents relevant to the highway upgrade project apparently did not mention any dangers from toxic chemicals or radiation that had spilled and buried after the 1980 truck wreck. Many of the documents did not mention the significant truck wreck and cargo spill at all. And after the construction workers became ill, most government authorities refused to comment in response to news inquiries. Those that did respond were quick to give non-answers reassuring that all was well.
Dr. John Mackay says that he has met with the same stonewalling and refusal to take responsibility since the 1980 cargo spill. It seems to our Texas work injury lawyers that government officials should step up, accept responsibility and most of all take steps to ensure that no further harm occurs from exposure to the toxic chemicals and radiation released in the truck crash decades ago. Many radioactive isotopes have half-lives of thousands of years. The problem of toxic exposure from the spill of radioactive materials is not simply going to go away just because the government chooses to ignore it.
Learn more about the dangers from truck wrecks and cargo spills, and what you can do to protect yourself, by downloading our free book highlighting your essential steps to a successful truck injury claim.
Our Houston injury lawyers note the Houston Chronicle’s lengthy discussion by Yang Wang of the ongoing Houston problems of dangerous driving, drug and alcohol abuse, irresponsible behavior, and lax discipline among the city’s unionized utilities workers. Of particular concern to us were the indications that some City employees drive Houston city vehicles while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
The Chronicle’s news article mentions that at least 130 of the city workers in the utilities department have failed mandatory or random drug tests, display repeated tardiness, workplace violence, or engage in other extreme behavior on the job. The quotes from the department’s director and supervisors did not make it appear that they were overly concerned about the problems. So our Houston injury lawyers would be surprised to see much improvement in the on the job behavior of Houston utilities workers in the near future.
The Chronicle article mentioned that approximately 460 complaints from the Houston public had been made against the city’s public works employees just in the last year. The complaints regarded dangerous behavior like reckless driving and damage to residents’ property, among other issues. If you live in Houston, you’re essentially paying the salaries and benefits of these workers. Our Houston injury lawyers point out that you have a right to expect that they won’t endanger you while on the job. But an employee that drives a city truck while intoxicated endangers everyone he might encounter.
The record of employee behavior, arrests, and convictions revealed in the Chronicle indicates that Houston’s public works department might have a problem with negligent hiring and employee retention practices. At least one worker, who displayed dangerous behavior while on the job, received convictions for criminal trespassing (twice), criminal mischief (three times), assault (twice), and drug related offenses (twice).
In a slow economy with millions out of work, can’t the city do better in finding and screening qualified utilities employees that don’t have criminal records? Our safety is at risk in Houston when City employees receive lax supervision and discipline and engage in dangerous behavior on the job. Allowing City workers to endanger the public and drive City trucks while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs is simply unacceptable.
Our Houston injury lawyers expect better from our City. Let’s hope that the utilities department cleans up its act and its workforce before any more City residents are harmed or endangered by their actions. Although the public works department apparently had the largest number of employees let go for cause, the department still seems to have a long way to go in cleaning up its workforce. If you’ve been injured by a City employee’s reckless behavior behind the wheel of a City truck, download our free book on the steps you need to take to make a successful injury claim after a truck wreck.
Texas truck cargo spill lawyers note a 1980 truck cargo accident in Australia that has become the subject of recent controversy. In December 1980, a truck carrying hazardous materials wrecked and apparently spilled some of its cargo. Among the hazardous materials in its cargo were DDT and other toxic agri-industry chemicals, and the radioactive isotopes Americum 241 and Cesium 137 (also found after the Fukushima disaster).
Reportedly, the wreck was cleared and hazardous materials were buried and capped under red clay in the area. The whole thing was pretty much forgotten until about 10 ago when workers constructing the Pacific Highway upgrade in New South Wales breached some red clay that began oxidizing and emitting fumes. Some of the workers began vomiting and several were hospitalized. Doctors who treated them said that poisons might have been involved and that an exclusion zone should be expanded around the site where the workers became sick. A radiation scare has resulted, but government. Environmental, and highway officials are unwilling to respond to queries for statements on the incident.
Reportedly, the environmental impact statement written for the upgrade project vaguely mentions a “former burial area” but doesn’t mention the truck crash, the hazardous materials burial, or any such hazardous materials in its contamination assessment. And the state environmental authority says that it wasn’t aware until the workers’ illness that the 1980 accident involved radioactive materials.
Our Texas truck cargo spill lawyers note that concerned parties are calling for better communication between government agencies to avoid further such hazardous oversights in reporting potential dangers. And people are now raising questions about the safety of the proposed Pacific Highway upgrade for both workers and the traveling public.
Dangers from spilled chemicals and radioactive materials, even if those materials are buried and capped, can lurk in the ground for decades or in the case of certain radioactive materials for thousands of years. Breaching a burial cap can release the very hazards meant to be locked away from public exposure.
The Texas truck cargo spill lawyers at Denena & Points emphasized that it is vitally important that government agencies and other involved parties accurately assess and report the dangers before beginning a construction or upgrade project anywhere. Innocent lives are at risk.
Learn more about truck cargo spills and what you could do to protect yourself from their dangers in our Texas truck cargo spill lawyers’ article on the topic.
Montgomery County truck crash attorneys remind you that one of the greatest dangers for occupants of smaller vehicles involved in collisions with 18-wheelers is underride. Underride accidents, where smaller vehicles drive partially or completely underneath a big tractor-trailer can be particularly horrific. The impact might shear off the top of the smaller vehicle and cause fatal head and neck injuries to the car’s occupants.
Underride accidents can happen to anyone. Just this past weekend, a Splendora, TX police officer suffered critical injuries when his patrol car crashed into the underside of an 18-wheeler trailer as part of a police pursuit on I-485. The Splendora officer, 28-year-old Ryan Simpson, had been in pursuit of a shooting suspect when he suffered an underride accident in New Caney with and 18-wheeler that had just pulled into I-485. Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital carried Officer Simpson with critical injuries.
Police officers receive advanced driving training for police pursuits that ordinary drivers don’t receive. If a highly trained police driver can experience a catastrophic underride injury accident with an 18-wheeler, so can anyone.
Our Montgomery County truck crash attorneys remind you to drive safely and take extra precautions when you’re driving among big rigs. Smaller vehicles are at a major disadvantage in any wreck with an 18-wheeler. And big rigs’ underride guards aren’t always up to the job of preventing a deadly crash injury.
If you’re the victim of a traumatic collision with an 18-wheeler, and you have questions about how to obtain proper compensation for your injuries, contact our experienced Montgomery County truck crash attorneys for a free legal consultation. Learn about your available legal options, and your potential for a full financial recovery for your injuries. Call us toll free at 877-307-9500 or utilize our convenient online contact features to schedule your free consultation.
Houston injury attorneys on some promising new safety legislation that could have some real effect.
OK, I’ll admit I enjoy poking holes in those lawmaker announcements that arrive with such pomp and circumstance while extolling the virtues of completely lame safety-related legislation. Well, now I’m forced to admit that the Senate might just have passed a piece of bipartisan legislation that could actually have some real value to your safety.
S.1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (or “MAP-21”), is a vehicle and highway safety bill. The 2-year, $109 billion surface transportation authorization bill combines a multitude of provisions from different safety initiatives designed to enhance vehicle safety requirements, increase some licensing regulations, prevent accidents, reduce injuries, and save money. Our Houston injury attorneys note some of MAP-21’s important provisions:
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The legislation appears fairly comprehensive, and seems to address a number of current gaps in vehicle, motor carrier, and highway safety. And our Houston injury attorneys emphasize that it does not include the dangerous provision to allow increases in commercial truck sizes and weights on our roads. (Yet. The bill provides for further study of the issue at this time. We expect that the legislation permitting increased sizes and weights of the commercial behemoths beside us on the roads will be quietly passed or added as a last minute amendment to some other bill without publicity.) Keep in mind that while traffic fatalities declined overall in 2010 from previous years’ numbers, those fatalities related to large commercial trucks increased by 9%.
To learn more about what steps you need to take to protect yourself and your rights following a collision caused by a heavy truck, read our book on how to make a successful truck accident claim. The book by our experienced Houston injury attorneys is free to our readers, and available for download from this web page.
Our Houston truck wreck lawyers have mentioned before the key importance of accurate truck route planning to the safety of truckers and other motorists on our roads. Truck drivers are under heavy pressure to safely deliver their cargos in the quickest amount of time. To do that, they need a trip route plan that will let them safely get to their destination without exceeding road weight limits, running onto overpasses, or sinking into roads that can’t carry the weight of their trucks and cargos.
Truck route planning is a heavy responsibility. The route planner must account for the latest changes in road conditions due to construction, weather, or previous wrecks. The planner must also know the heights of overpasses, widths of bridges, tunnels, and roads, and weight limits of bridges and roads, among other things, in relation to the height, width, and weight of the loaded truck.
When truck route planners are careless and make an error, truck wrecks can result. The truck wreck might cause loss or destruction of the truck cargo, damage to roads and bridges, damage to nearby vehicles, and/or injuries to the truck driver and other motorists and pedestrians.
An accident on Friday in Southwest Houston at Elgin and the Southwest Freeway serves as a good example. An 18-wheeler hauling a tanker of diesel fuel ran into a series of overpasses. The overpasses offered 14 and 15 feet of clearance, but the truck was 16 feet in height. Our Houston truck wreck lawyers point out that the height difference here between the overpasses and the truck represents a classic failure in truck route planning. Countless accidents result from similar failures to account for height differences between a truck and the overpasses it will encounter along the way to its destination.
The 18-wheeler and its diesel tank became wedged under the overpasses, and dislodged portions of the overpasses, which strewed rubble on the roadway. Fortunately, the tank, although damaged, did not leak diesel fuel, which would have required an even more extensive cleanup and road closure due to HAZMAT issues. As it was, all lanes of the roadway were closed for several hours while rescue crews extracted the truck and trailer and cleaned up the debris. Our Houston truck wreck lawyers suspect that there will also be some delays while the overpasses undergo needed repairs.
Sometimes truck drivers plan their own routes. But typically, a third party contractor or an employee of a trucking company plans the route. But no matter who does the planning, the truck driver is responsible for checking the route for safety before taking to the roadway.
If you’ve been injured because of a truck crash, and you need to know if you’re eligible to claim financial compensation for your injuries from the trucker, trucking company, or truck route planner, just contact our Houston truck wreck lawyers for a free consultation/case evaluation. We have more than 12 years of experience winning substantial recoveries for victims injured in truck accidents. And we have extensive background in the trucking industry itself, which helps us to accurately pinpoint causes of a truck wreck as well as to identify the parties liable for the costs of your injuries.
Let us help you make a full recovery from your truck crash injuries. Call us toll free at 877-307-9500 or use our web contact form to schedule your free case evaluation/consultation.
The Houston injury attorneys at Denena & Points pass along news of a drunk driving crash that could serve as a model for a modern day morality tale where good saves the day over evil. In Desoto, TX on Sunday, a drunk driver crashed at high speed into the home of Pastor Eric Johnson. The Pastor and his family and friends were present when the car slammed through the living room.
During its headlong flight into the residence, the car turned and drove Princess Goodwin and her two-month old godchild into a wall. Princess Goodwin raised the baby aloft as she herself became pinned beneath the out of control vehicle. The pastor and his neighbors had to break through a wall to reach the pair. With some difficulty, they managed to extract Princess Goodwin and her godchild from the wreckage of the car and home.
The Pastor and Princess credit faith and the Lord for everyone’s survival of the destructive drunk driving accident with only minimal scratches and bruises. Our Houston injury attorneys note that the home itself was totaled in the wreck, and can no longer be occupied. The drunken rampage of the vehicle through the home sent furniture careening across the living room. The pastor’s two daughters were thrown against the fireplace. The WFAA.com account of the Desoto drunk driving crash doesn’t mention the fate of the drunk driver.
For believers, this story could represent a morality tale, illustrating the triumph of good over the destructive efforts of evil. For others, it’s probably just another unfortunate tale of innocent people harmed by an out-of-control drunk driver.
However you wish to view the story, pictures from the WFAA account indicate that indeed the survival of the occupants of the pastor’s home is something of a miracle. Our Houston injury attorneys point out that the destruction of the home in the crash well illustrates the deadly force an out-of-control drunk driver’s speeding vehicle can wield.
For the last several years, efforts have been underway to curb drunk drivers and their destructive activities. But no matter what means are employed, drivers continue to succumb to weakness and risk others’ lives by getting behind the wheel. Not all those in the paths of their vehicles are so blessed as the pastor and those at his home on Sunday.
Our Houston injury attorneys urge our readers to be responsible drinkers; let someone else drive. If a friend or relative starts to get behind the wheel while impaired, stop them. If you see a stranger about to take to the road while intoxicated or impaired, call law enforcement. Protect yourself and your family and friends. Like Princess Goodwin, your smart action might save a life.
Lake Jackson truck wreck lawyers point out that dump trucks have several notable features that make them dangerous when a negligent or inexperienced driver gets behind the wheel.
A driver for Hyde Fuel Company in New York received a bitter reminder of the back-up hazards of dump trucks this past Wednesday. While he was backing, he accidentally backed onto thin ice at Oseetah Lake. The truck’s back tires broke through the ice, and the driver found that his dump truck was no duck truck. Our Lake Jackson truck wreck lawyers lament that the truck had no knowledge of how to swim. Another engine, a network of chains and ropes, and some large wooden beams had to work diligently to haul that massive vehicle out of the cold lake waters. The owner of the Hyde Fuel Company had no comment for Adirondack reporters inquiring about the incident.
If you’re injured in a truck wreck and have questions, download our Lake Jackson truck wreck lawyers’ free book from this website on the steps you need to take after a serious Houston wreck. The book is free. The information could be priceless.
Texas truck accident lawyers describe an incident that stands out for its injustice. There’s a man in Washington State named Dale Satorius who knows the biting pain of loss coupled with injustice. A negligent dump truck driver caused a collision in Pennsylvania that killed Mrs. Hui Satorius and injured the 5-year-old daughter.
A Pennsylvania trooper named Kevin Frey, scheduled to retire the day following the accident, responded to the scene of the violent collision. In spite of the reckless driving and negligence described in accounts of the wreck, the trooper decided to issue the PA dump truck driver only a minor traffic citation. The Pennsylvania trooper said he wanted to close out all of his pending cases before he retired. And he might have wanted to smooth the way to his own retirement more than he wanted to ensure that justice was done in the case.
The widower of Mrs. Satorius is understandably angry that this retiring trooper let the negligent PA dump truck driver off so easily just to smooth the way to his own retirement. The Bellevue, WA widower has been asking for justice. But prosecutors in Perry County, PA say that “double jeopardy” rules may make it impossible to bring further criminal charges against the negligent dump truck driver.
Dale Satorius maintains that letting the negligent PA dump truck driver off with only a minor citation for the needless, fatal collision sets a bad example. He says that it makes reckless driving and the negligent taking of innocent lives seem like a minor issue. Our Texas truck accident lawyers think he’s right.
Pennsylvania authorities, wittingly or unwittingly, have taken the position through the PA trooper’s action and through the failure to pursue further action after the fatal dump truck accident that human life carries less value than a smooth retirement for a government servant. While many people might believe that this exactly represents the attitude of government officials toward the populace they supposedly represent and whose interests they supposedly uphold, we’re not sure it’s good policy to be so blatant about it.
These Texas truck accident lawyers note that Dale Satorius has some recourse against the negligent PA dump truck driver. He could bring a civil lawsuit claiming monetary compensation for the loss of his wife and her companionship. But no amount of money can ever compensate for the loss of a beloved spouse. And no amount of monetary damages takes a dangerous truck driver off the road where he could potentially injure or kill others.
Pursuing truck collision claims involves a great deal of time, effort, and technical evidence. After a man has lost his wife to a violent collision, he probably does not want to dive head first into a complicated out of state lawsuit to get justice. Our Texas truck accident lawyers understand that.
Anyone interested in taking a look at some of the matters involved in undertaking a complex truck collision compensation claim could download our free book. The book describes some of the steps to take to make a successful truck accident claim. The book is available free to our readers on this website. Just click and download.
Our Houston dump truck accident attorneys have remarked before upon the ubiquity of dump trucks in our metropolitan area. We’ve also mentioned how these massive vehicles have the potential to cause catastrophic or even fatal injuries in an accident. Rollovers, collisions, and underride crashes all have the potential to take the lives of occupants of smaller, more fragile vehicles.
This huge potential for costly injury is one of the reasons the law requires dump truck drivers to carry the higher dollar commercial insurance policies. These policies can have up to 50 times the cash value of the average car insurance policy. But dump truck drivers themselves are otherwise fairly lightly regulated. They aren’t subject to many of the more stringent safety regulations that affect the drivers of the 18-wheeler tractor-trailer rigs you see.
Indeed, many dump truck companies consist of just a guy and his truck. The lighter regulation on dump truck drivers facilitates their much-needed work in busy modern societies. But as a recent news item points out, it can also lead to multiple accidents. One dump truck driver just drove his Kenworth into a building, only 9 days after having a previous accident.
The U.S. NHTSA and FMCSA data show that poor truck brake maintenance is the number one mechanical cause of heavy truck wrecks. Over 29% of the accidents the agencies studied included poor truck brake maintenance as a component.
Our Houston dump truck accident attorneys emphasize that the brake systems on commercial trucks, whether hydraulic systems, air brake systems, or some other type, comprise a complex assembly of large and heavy components. These truck brake systems require the regular attention of highly trained, skilled mechanics to continue functioning smoothly. Poorly maintained truck brake systems can actually fall apart. When they come apart on the road and a component weighing hundreds of pounds comes flying off the truck at 75 miles pre hour, the impact can tear a car in half. And the truck itself could crush surrounding vehicles as its brakes fail and it rear ends smaller passenger cars.
The air brake systems on many heavy trucks are particularly prone to pressure imbalances if they aren’t carefully maintained. These pressure imbalances are to blame for many of the accidents you hear of where the driver loses control of the vehicle and wrecks.
But as long as a truck still drives, owners might be tempted to skimp on brake maintenance to save money. Minor braking problems just don’t seem that urgent compared to some other types of mechanical failure. At least not until a catastrophic dump truck accident occurs.
If a dump truck wreck has injured you and you have questions about the accident, contact our Houston dump truck accident attorneys for your free consultation. Our more than 12 years of focused truck wreck injury experience could help you discover if slipshod brake maintenance was one of the causes.
An investigation of the wreck and the dump truck itself could examine the caliper adjustments, brake linings, hydraulic fluid levels, and more to discover whether poor brake maintenance played a role in causing your injuries. You can contact us toll free at 877-307-9500 or through our convenient online contact form to schedule your free and confidential legal consultation with our Houston dump truck accident attorneys.