Westchester County

Published on: November 17, 2011

This fatality that took place in 2007 has recently been dealt with in court

by Stephen Bilkis

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, and in this instance, this appears to be the case. No one is quite sure what happened to prompt this completely bizarre truck accident, but an investigation will try to piece together the evidence later.

What is known for now is the following; that a 71-year-old man died in a semi-truck fire and his body was found when the firefighters dispatched to handle the call found him. It isn’t clear how he got to be there and the fire department can only speak to the fact that they found a burning tractor-trailer outside a trucking company when they arrived on the scene.

The fire department was called out in response to what sounded like two explosions at about 2 a.m. The rig was fully engulfed when they got there and it took some time to knock the flames down. It was then that they found the body. From the initial investigations, completed at the scene when the body was first discovered, it looks as though a truck hit a parked semi, caused the tires to spin and ignited a conflagration. It also appeared that the flames then spread to the cab.

Published on: November 6, 2011

Dangerous Highway Being Studied; Possible Improvements to Come

by Stephen Bilkis

Four years ago, a man lost his son and two grandchildren in a crash on M-40 in front of the Tulip City Truck Stop. Afterward, he wondered if it was possible to do anything to improve the busy road’s safety.

He now has hope that just that will happen. And that hope comes in the form of the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council who has hired a consultant to conduct a study of a specific stretch of M-40. The study could lead to much needed safety improvements.

“We always felt all along that there were a lot of close calls (after that crash). We felt another (accident) was going to happen,” the father and grandfather said.

Published on: November 4, 2011

Injured and Declining to sue, an Accident Survivor is Financially Strapped

by Stephen Bilkis

In some cases, the truth is stranger than fiction and this case has all of those elements; a bit of hard, cold truth and an old world element of what may be considered to be fiction, but, is also truth.

A 60-year old Amish woman who survived a very ugly tractor trailer crash that killed three and left more than a dozen others badly injured, has declined to sue the trucker who caused the accident, indicated a New York Trucking Accident Lawyer. That is the Amish way; not to take money from others when a situation is considered to be God’s will. And, according to God’s will, she would not participate in suing the man who killed her father.

The truck that hit them was fully loaded with scrap metal – 13 tons of it. The trucker had been driving for more than 86 hours over an 8-day period and was in violation of the hours of service regulations. He had been cited 41 times for fraudulently altering logbooks.

Published on: October 16, 2011

Hit-And-Run Freightliner Accident and Others

by Stephen Bilkis

There is always a risk when driving. Resident from around Columbia, Missouri, can definitely testify to that. In the last two weeks, four vehicle accidents have occurred.

Four residents of Boonville, a town near Columbia, were injured Friday in an accident near the Cooper County Fairgrounds.

An 18-year-old girl was making a left hand turn when she crossed the center line and was hit by a 45-year-old driving a truck.

Published on: October 3, 2011

Horrific Truck Wreck Kills Five and Injures Ten Others

by Stephen Bilkis

This particular accident was logged in as one of the worst anyone had even seen. What happened? A semi careened into a line of stopped traffic, killing five and injuring at least 10 others, some very severely reported the New York Truck Accident Lawyer

The most shocking aspect of this story is that the driver of the big rig did not even pause or give any signs of slowing down, even with a line of stopped cars in front of him. The cars were stopped at the site of a previous accident to allow EMS crews to do their work.

When the semi hit the end of the line, the whole line bunched up like an accordion, leaving death and destruction in its wake. The police report indicated that there were no skid marks involved in this wreck and that the truck was doing 70 mph when it hit the last car in the line. According to witnesses, the trucker was driving erratically just prior to being involved in the accident.

Published on: September 15, 2011

Tractor Trailer Rams into Numerous Vehicles, Killing Three Marine Recruits

by Stephen Bilkis

The Truck company and trucker involved in this fatal fiasco had been sued no less than five times before this latest incident, said the New York Truck Accident Lawyer. There were two other people in the same car the Marine recruits were in when this accident happened and it also involved five other vehicles and a motorcycle. In other words, it was a total mess.

The family of one of the deceased is seeking $20 million in punitive damages from the Truck company and a further $1 million in punitive damages from the trucker. They are also asking for $25,000 in compensatory damages and $17,000 in burial expenses. The lawsuit further states the Truck company had no business allowing the trucker to drive, given his string of serious traffic offenses and that they should have been aware of them, explained the Truck Accident Lawyer. In Suffolk and Westchester Counties when alcohol is involved in the case, the authorities have little pity for the driver.

The driver was convicted of drunk driving three times, as well as letting his daughter and other underage kids use drugs and/or alcohol in a motel room. He evidently lied on his application to get hired, pointed out the New York Truck Accident Lawyer.

Published on: August 15, 2011

Coal Truck Rolls Over

by Stephen Bilkis

No one is sure what happened yet. But there is likely to be an investigation into what caused a coal truck to hit a ditch and roll over, killing the lone occupant, a 32-year old volunteer firefighter with 16-years experience and a history of working in the trucking industry.

Just recently, a funeral was held for a young firefighter and family man who was killed after the coal truck he was driving went off the road, into a ditch and rolled, indicated a New York Trucking Accident Lawyer In Staten Island and Westchester Counties, Lawyers and doctors are involved in these cases on a consistent basis.

The accident reports aren’t clear on precisely why the truck left the road, but it’s hoped that the results of an investigation may reveal what happened. There may be a possibility of faulty steering, brakes or tires, or driver distraction, but for now, this is only speculation which is difficult for his family to handle, but something they feel they need to know to get on with their lives.

Published on: June 15, 2011

Man Lying in Street Run Over by Fire Truck

by Stephen Bilkis

Police in Winnipeg continue to investigate an early morning incident that occurred on April 3, a New York Truck Accident Lawyer has found. The incident occurred at approximately 4:20 a.m. as a fire truck from Number 6 fire station responded to a call. As one vehicle pulled off to the side of the city street to allow the fire truck to pass, the fire truck driver noticed something in the road ahead and tried to stop, although unsuccessfully. When firefighters exited the truck to determine what “bump in the road” they had just ran over, they discovered the fire truck had just ran over a man who was lying in the middle of the road.

The 47-year old man was immediately transported to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead a few minutes later as a result of his injuries. Although the investigation is ongoing, authorities have told a NYC Truck Accident Lawyer they are still unsure as to why the man was lying in the middle of the roadway. They are awaiting for the autopsy to be completed and are hoping that will provide the answers they need, as there are many possible causes that he could have been lying in the road, including a medical emergency, intoxication, or could have simply fell as he crossed the street. Authorities still have many unanswered questions. The only thing they do know is that the man was still alive when the fire truck ran over him.

Although one neighbor who happened to be awake early that morning had reported a group of kids that scattered at some point, the primary witnesses to this accident are the firefighters and the driver of the vehicle they had just passed. This lack of available information is further hampering the investigation.

Published on: June 9, 2011

Malfunctioned Brakes cause accident on I-70

by Stephen Bilkis

Failing brakes cause a truck accident that injured at least three people and closed traffic lanes for most of the day Sunday, a New York Truck Accident Lawyer explained. The scene was all too common on I-70 Sunday. The road was closed most of the day because of an accident involving an 18 –wheel truck and an unsuspecting SUV, stated an Accident Lawyer.

The truck appeared to have been driving out of control according to local authorities when its brakes failed and slammed into a Chevrolet Trailblazer causing it to roll over on its side.

Passengers in the SUV were all injured to some degree. One of the passengers had to be cut out of the truck and had serious injuries. The other two passengers were left with only minor injuries but were sent to the hospital for observation according to police.

Published on: June 3, 2011

Wrong Way Drunk Driver in Fort Worth Hits Truck Head-On Leaving One Dead

by Stephen Bilkis

Interstate 30 was the scene of a horrific accident involving a drunk driver and a tanker trucker that had just been filled with fuel. The March 28 accident began when a man reportedly drank at least 10 beers at a local Fort Worth bar. Police say that they are not sure, when the drunk driver entered I-30, but they do know that the first reports of a wrong-way driver began to be reported to the 911 operators at approximately 2:30 a.m. It was not long after these 911 calls began to be made that the drunk driver crashed head-on into the tanker truck. The tanker then overturned and exploded into a massive fireball. The truck driver died almost instantly.

When first responders arrived at the scene, the truck was completely engulfed in flames. The fireball that had shot high into the night sky could be seen for miles, witnesses told a NYC Truck Accident Attorney. Due to the amount of fuel involved, firefighters allowed most of it to burn before they extinguished the flames. The heat was so intense that it melted parts of the concrete and steel structure of the bridge. A Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) spokeswoman stated that the heat was so intense that it literally melted the concrete. She went on to add, “The fuel went down the bridge joints, and the fire followed it.” Repairs to the bridge are expected to take months to complete. Traffic will be affected for months, as the section of the bridge undergoing repair will be bottlenecked from four lanes into two until repairs are complete.

The 23-year old man who police arrested at the scene sits in the Mansfield Jail, police told a New York Truck Accident Attorney. If this type of accident occurred in The Bronx or Westchester County, NY, a qualified attorney would be contacted. He has been charged with suspicion of drunken driving and intoxication manslaughter, and his bail has been set at $90,000. Police sources have also said that they are awaiting the results of his blood alcohol test to be returned. The police spokesman also stated that the man they have in custody simply remembers that he had drunk 10 beers at a local bar, and did not remember driving onto the interstate highway. They also said that the man said that he was very sorry for his actions.