Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Non working tailights

A Rensselaer motorcyclist was reported to be in critical condition this morning after he rear ended a flatbed trailer on Saturday on Ind. 8 in Boone Township, the Porter County Sheriff’s Police said.

According to police, at 10:48 a.m. John Stewart, 51, of Rensselaer, was westbound on Ind. 8, east of C.R. 500W, when he crashed his 1997 Harley Davidson into a work platform which was extending past the rear of a flatbed trailer being hauled by Danny Dille, 23, of Jackson Township.

Stewart, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown off his motorcycle, police said, and subsequently transported to Porter Valparaiso Hospital Campus with a severe head injury. A Porter spokesperson told the Chesterton Tribune today that Stewart was listed in critical condition.

Police said that Dille, driving a 1995 Chevrolet 2500 truck, was slowing in traffic at the time of the accident. “Initial investigation found that the trailer being pulled by Dille had inoperative trailer lights and the work platform being hauled on the trailer was extending past the end of the trailer in such a manner as to obstruct the view of the rear of the trailer,” police said in a statement released after the accident.

Police added that neither speed nor alcohol appear to have been a factor in the accident.

http://www.chestertontribune.com/PoliceFireEmergency/9104%20motorcyclist_reported_to_be_in_c.htm

Pair uninjured in SR 83 wreck

Pair uninjured in SR 83 wreck
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 8:19 AM PDT



By JB Miller

The rodeo kept emergency workers on their toes, but they also responded to a number of medical calls to other locations in the Sonoita area over the Labor Day weekend.

A 911 caller reported that a vehicle had rolled over and slammed into a mesquite tree at Milepost 40.6 along State Route 83 on Monday, Sept. 3, at 9:30 a.m. An officer from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) said a pickup driven by 54 year old Michael Campbell of Tucson was pulling a camper trailer when the trailer came loose from the tow hitch and caused both vehicles to roll. DPS reported that the truck rolled a quarter of the way over before landing on the driver's side. Campbell and his passenger, 61-year-old Betty Potter of Tucson, both refused medical treatment at the scene.

A Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department spokesperson said the occupants appeared to have minor injuries and that they were wearing seatbelts.
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/articles/2007/09/11/news/news9.txt

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Can you say 5 million dollars???

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3898/is_200303/ai_n9221849

trailer comes loose from truck: Collision: Wrongful deaths: Settlement: Postverdict settlement.

Ferguson v. Ritchie Tractor Co., Tenn., Knox County Cir. Ct., No. 2-60-01, Nov. 15, 2002.

Ferguson, 57, was driving on a roadway. A utility trailer came loose from a pickup truck and veered into Ferguson's lane, striking his vehicle head-on. He suffered fatal injuries. He had been the president of a security company earning approximately $100,000 annually. Ferguson is survived by his wife and two adult children.

Ferguson's wife sued the trailer manufacturer, alleging negligence in the design and manufacture of the trailer. Plaintiff also sued the company that owned and operated the trailer, alleging failure to adequately secure it, in violation of state law requiring safety chains.

The trailer manufacturer settled during trial for a confidential amount. The jury then awarded $5 million, finding the owner of the trailer 60 percent liable, and the manufacturer, 40 percent liable. Plaintiff then settled with the trailer owner for a confidential amount.

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Plaintiff's experts were Robert Lott, mechanical engineering, Nashville, Tenn., and Robert Bohm, economics, Knoxville, Tenn. Defendant's expert was Tyler Kress, mechanical engineering, Knoxville, Tenn.

Plaintiffs Counsel

*Sidney Gilreath, Knoxville, Tenn.

*Chris Gilreath, Knoxville, Tenn.

Driver killed by unhitched utility trailer

Driver killed by unhitched utility trailer

June 7, 2004

A 24-year-old Salem woman driving a 1998 Volkswagen Jetta on the Lowell Connector was killed yesterday when a utility trailer connected to a tow truck broke free, became airborne, and landed on her car, which was heading in the opposite direction. According to State Police, the accident occurred at about 3:45 p.m. The trailer was being hauled by Patrick Sheehy, 27, of Lowell, police said. Sheehy had picked up the trailer a few minutes before the crash, said Trooper Thomas Ryan. The crash is under investigation, police said. No charges have been filed. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name was withheld pending family notification

SUV hauling trailer wrecks on I-64 bridge

SUV hauling trailer wrecks on I-64 bridge

By Amelia A. Pridemore
Register-Herald reporter

An Iowa man pulling a U-Haul trailer wrecked on an Interstate 64 bridge Friday after a ball on the trailer hitch broke, sheriff’s deputies said.

Between 2:15 and 2:20 p.m., Carmello Fernandez, 48, of Dennison, Iowa, was driving eastbound on Interstate 64 in a Ford Expedition, said Deputy Mike Johnson of the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department. Fernandez was pulling a U-Haul trailer, and near the Eisenhower Drive exit, the ball on his trailer hitch broke off.

The break caused Fernandez to lose control of the SUV, Johnson said. The vehicle spun and hit a guard rail on the Beaver Creek Bridge. The loose trailer continued eastbound, going into the median.

A wrecker responding to the accident scene is believed to have been involved in a second wreck in the westbound lanes, Johnson said. This was handled by the West Virginia State Police. No further information was available about this accident.

Fernandez was treated at the scene for minor injuries, Johnson said. No citations were issued.
http://www.register-herald.com/policecourts/local_story_096213854.html

Trailer Crashes Into Home

Monday, April 24, 2006

Trailer Crashes Into Home
An Abilene senior citizen narrowly escaped injury when a trailer crashed thru her home. It happened Sunday morning near the intersection of north 10th and Grape streets. Police say a trailer came unhitched from a pickup truck and crashed thru the womans house. She escaped injury by just a few inches. The woman and her daughter had just moved back to Abilene from Austin. They secured the house with a piece of plywood. Insurance adjusters are due today. When the insurance adjusters finish their work, more permanent repairs can be done.

Runaway trailer hits car, kills girl

Runaway trailer hits car, kills girl

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Posted on Saturday, September 9, 2006

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/166042/

ASHDOWN — A teenage girl died in Ashdown on Thursday evening when a trailer carrying a pontoon boat came loose from a truck and slammed into her car, the Arkansas State Police said Friday.

John Wright, 58, of Wilton was southbound on U. S. 71 in a GMC truck about 7 p. m. when the trailer attached to his truck came unhitched and veered into northbound traffic, police said.

The trailer struck a northbound Nissan Maxima, and the pontoon boat crashed into the car’s windshield, killing its driver, Brittany J. Heathcock, 17, of Ashdown, police said.

Wright wasn’t injured, police said.

$4,000,000.00 VERDICT – MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISION

$4,000,000.00 VERDICT – MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISION
$4 million jury verdict in favor of an individual whose leg was amputated following a collision with a trailer that came loose from a pickup truck.
http://www.kemptonrussell.com/contact.html

Woman killed when car collides with trailer

Woman killed when car collides with trailer
Thursday, January 1, 2004
VERNAL — An accident involving a runaway trailer Tuesday claimed the life of a Roosevelt woman and seriously injured her husband.
Ed Richman, 75, and his wife Betty, 70, were traveling westbound on U.S. 40 just outside of Vernal in the area known as "the twists" when their vehicle rounded a corner directly into the path of a box-shaped trailer that had become disconnected from a 2003 Chevrolet pickup truck.
The Richmans were taken by medical helicopter to the University of Utah. Betty Richman later died. Ed Richman sustained head injuries and was listed in stable condition Wednesday.
The pickup truck was driven by William Lindsay, 48, Vernal.
According to investigating UHP trooper Craig Young, the trailer became disconnected and crossed into oncoming traffic. The Richman vehicle struck the trailer and continued westbound until it ran into a hillside.
The accident remains under investigation

Truck trailer came off hitch

Here is more on this

Truck trailer came off hitch
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/23/07

BY FRAIDY REISS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

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JACKSON — A landscaping company has been served four summonses for unsafe equipment stemming from a March 9 crash on East Commodore Boulevard in which a trailer dislodged from one of the company's dump trucks and plowed into a school minibus, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office confirmed Thursday.

Belmar Borough Councilman William Merkler, one of the owners of the landscaping company, referred all questions to attorney William J. Shipers, who said the company denies any wrongdoing.

The bus driver, Susan Kaiser, 58, of Lakehurst, was seriously injured in the crash, police said. Four children and an aide aboard suffered minor injuries, police said. Kaiser was released from the hospital Thursday. Further information about her condition was not available.

The summonses issued Monday by the State Police Transportation Safety Bureau allege "serious" equipment violations that show the truck and trailer were unsafe and that raise questions about recklessness on the part of Down To Earth Landscaping, based in Jackson, Senior Assistant Prosecutor Steven Janosko said.

The State Police, Prosecutor's Office and Jackson police are continuing a criminal investigation, he said.

"This was not a freak event," Janosko said. "This was an accident waiting to happen."

"Down To Earth Landscaping was unaware of any mechanical defect to the vehicles on the day of the accident," Shipers, the company attorney, said. "Down To Earth continues to investigate all the circumstances surrounding the happening of the unfortunate accident."

One summons cited the Jackson-based company for failure to inspect and maintain parts. Specifically, according to the summons, the truck's trailer hitch was worn and unable to lock securely to the ball of the trailer.

The truck also lacked proper safety chains, designed to work as a backup in case the hitch fails, said Janosko.

Additionally, police charge the trailer did not have functional brakes. "Trailers are provided with brakes for safety reasons, not for the heck of it," Janosko said.

The final summons referred to unsecured equipment in the bed of the dump truck. If that equipment moved around, it could have helped dislodge the trailer, Janosko said.

Each of the violations is "substantial" on its own, Janosko said. When combined, the four violations could cause the kind of crash that occurred March 9, he said.

"You put a vehicle on the road in this condition, and there's the potential for criminal liability as well as civil liability," Janosko said.

Not an N.J. license

Investigators are looking into why the truck driver involved in the crash — whose driver's license reads Albino Rufino but whom the company attorney referred to as Albino Lazaro — holds a recently issued license from Washington state, Janosko said.

Shipers, the attorney, said he could not explain the license or the discrepancy in names.

Down To Earth Landscaping serves much of New Jersey and several surrounding states, and employs more than 200 people during peak season, Shipers has said.

Kaiser was driving four special-needs students and an aide to Elms Elementary School that morning when Down To Earth's Hydro Mulch trailer dislodged, crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed into the minibus, police have said.

Kaiser was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center with two broken femurs and two broken ankles, police said.

Fraidy Reiss: (732) 557-5735 or freiss@app.com