The bigger the vehicle, the bigger the chance for a destructive accident. Several people in Howland Township, Ohio, learned this for themselves recently when they were caught in a chain-reaction truck accident. Fortunately, nobody was killed; however, eight people were hurt in the accident and it is fortunate that their injuries were not more serious.
According to police reports, the accident occurred in mid-afternoon when the garbage truck, driven by a 20-year-old man, did not stop at a traffic signal. This caused the truck to hit another vehicle from behind. The force of this impact, meanwhile, pushed the car into another vehicle, triggering a chain-reaction accident involving five vehicles altogether.
The driver, who was one of the eight people taken to area hospitals due to injuries, was cited as a result of the accident. He received a citation for failing to maintain an assured clear distance. However, a simple citation might not be the biggest of his problems.
Although it has not been definitively proven, it would appear that the garbage truck running the red light was the cause of the crash — and thus the injuries to the other seven people. Those folks who were injured might wish to contact a personal injury attorney in order to recoup their losses and seek damages from the liable party.
Determining that liability, however, could be complicated. The truck driver was behind the wheel of a company-owned vehicle and presumably on duty at the time of the accident; this might make his employer at least partially culpable too. An attorney can help someone to evaluate the potentially confusing circumstances that a commercial vehicle accident can reveal.
Source: WFMJ-TV, “Garbage truck driver cited after five-vehicle crash in Howland,” Aug. 16, 2013