A passenger of a bakery box truck was killed in an accident after the vehicle slammed into an interchange wall and was left dangling over Interstate 95. The driver has entered his plea of guilty.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, the driver was adjudicated guilty of careless driving that involved that February fatal accident. The driver was fined $1,000 in addition to court costs and must complete 250 hours of community service. His driver’s license was also suspended for 6 months.
Our Fort Lauderdale accident attorneys understand that the interchange where this incident happened is equipped with a number of signals, signs and ramps. Some of the barriers in the area are smeared with black marks, serving as unfortunate reminders of past accidents and close calls. The accident that took the passenger in the bakery box happened as the crew headed to Tampa. it happened at about 5:30 a.m. as the truck exited at State Road 84. The truck neglected to make that sharp turn onto 84, according to officers, and crashed right into the north wall of the interchange. The collision left a 10-foot hole.
During the rescue efforts, officials with the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue had to secure cables between the box truck and it’s heavy cargo backing to keep it from falling to the ground 50 feet below.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), more than 10 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities reported involved large trucks, defined as vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds. Among the people killed in these accidents, close to 75 percent of them were the occupants of other motor vehicles involved. Only about 15 percent of those killed in these accidents were those in the large trucks.
It’s not uncommon for the drivers of large trucks and passenger vehicles to have prior speeding convictions.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the state of Florida saw more than 200 large trucks involved in fatal traffic accidents in 2011. This means that close to 6 percent of all of the the fatal trucking accidents across the nation happened in the state of Florida.
Unfortunately, these are statistics that are on the rise as we continue to see more and more fatal trucking accidents nationwide. The latest increase we saw was the 2 percent increase from 2010 to 2011. While a 2 percent increase may see insignificant to you, consider it this way: There were close to 4,000 people killed in trucking accidents across the nation during that year. Any percent increase is a concern for motorists and safety advocates.
In 2011, these large trucks accounted for 8 percent of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes and 3 percent of all vehicles involved in injury and property-damage-only crashes.
It’s important that we exercising the safest of traveling habits around large commercial vehicles. One wrong move could result in a fatal accident. Our passenger vehicles stand virtually no chance against the size, weight and power of a large, commercial vehicle.
If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident, contact Freeman, Mallard, Sharp & Gonzalez at 1-800-561-7777 for a free appointment to discuss your rights.
More Blog Entries:
Underride Guards Strong Enough to Protect You in a Lauderdale Trucking Accident?, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog, May 11, 2013
Weight and Speed Often a Factor in South Florida Tractor-Trailer Accidents, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog, January 20, 2013