Jury Awards Victims in Semi Truck Crash $23.5 Based Upon Several Negligence Theories
Back in 2006, a Yellow Transportation semi truck slammed into the back of a Swift Transportation semi truck in the early morning hours causing the death of the driver of the Yellow Transportation semi truck and serious spinal injuries to his passenger who was sleeping in the sleeper berth. According to the article, the driver of the Swift Transportation semi truck said that she was pulling into a rest stop at the time of the crash. However, accident reconstruction analysis showed that she had actually miscalculated the turn into the rest stop and was trying to back out onto the highway in the darkness to correct her mistake.
In addition to the apparent negligent driving that caused the accident, lawyers for the plaintiffs (in this particular lawsuit, the injured passenger and his wife based on her loss of consortium claim) uncovered several facts that indicated that Swift Transportation never should have hired their driver and allowed her onto the roads operating a potentially dangerous tractor-trailer. The plaintiffs' lawyers learned that the driver was a new driver who had limited experience and had failed her commercial driver's license test several times. She also had a history of drug abuse and tested positive for methamphetamine in a post-accident drug test.
In order to avoid serious semi truck accidents such as this one, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issues regulations to try to ensure that semi truck drivers are qualified to safely operate semi trucks. For instance, each semi truck driver is required to pass an exam that tests whether that driver has the skills to safely operate a semi truck. If so, that driver is issued a commercial driver's license, or CDL. Additionally, semi truck drivers are supposed to have periodic training and road tests to make sure they continue to maintain the skills necessary to safely drive semi trucks.
What also made this crash avoidable is that trucking companies are supposed to check the backgrounds of their applicant drivers to make sure there are no glaring issues in a person's driving history, employment history or criminal history that would make it unreasonably unsafe to hire the person to drive a semi truck. For instance, if a person has a history of drug abuse or has failed alcohol and/or drug tests in the past, that should raise a red flag and prevent a trucking company from hiring that person.
Apparently, based on the jury's verdict finding that Swift Transportation negligently hired and retained its driver, there were issues in the driver's past that should have been uncovered by the trucking company and caused them to refrain from hiring this driver.
