ATA Chief Takes On Truck-accident Lawyers

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear is fed up with exorbitant lawsuits against trucking companies and their drivers, and is asking trucking industry leaders to join him in lobbying Congress for tort reform legislation.

ATA chief takes on truck-accident lawyers

I've seen the billboards for "truck accident attorneys". Due to the high amounts of insurance and the public perception that the TRUCK IS ALWAYS WRONG - our trucks might as well have bullseyes on them.

The cases illustrated in the article - should have NEVER MADE IT INTO A COURTROOM - there the driver of the truck is so obviously NOT AT FAULT.

I'm not to sure what kind of "tort reform legislation" will fix this. Such reform should be applicable to ALL ACCIDENTS, where the party being sued is plainly not at fault. And this is going to have to happen at a state level - since most of these claims are not filed in FEDERAL COURT.

And as soon as the company makes an offer to a "nuisance claimant" - because it's cheaper to throw a few $$'s at it, than it is to litigate (and risk a huge payout) - it's like they are admitting liability.

And again - with trucks being the "murdering demons" they are made out to be in public perception - a good attorney can always convince a jury of some kind of "contributory negligence". Like the case in the article that the truck should not have been driving in those conditions. Like, then WHY THE HELL WAS THE WOMAN DRIVING IN THOSE CONDITIONS.

Rick

OTOH - this goes hand-in-hand with a bill in congress to raise the insurance requirements to $5 Mil. Which will price a lot of the smaller operators out of the industry- and ENCOURAGE MORE of these kind of lawsuits with the anticipation of an EVEN BIGGER PAYOUT.

Conversely - I always hope if I get hit by another driver in my car - that it's a COMMERCIAL DRIVER. At least there's some $$ there to be had...

Rick

I heard an interview on roaddog radio when this new higher insurance level came up about it. One of those truck accident attorney’s wife is the lobbyist pushing the bill in congress. No conflict of interest there😮😮

This article aligns with a point I have repeatedly touted;

- The overwhelming majority of non-CDL drivers have little to no formal training and as a whole are ambivalent to prudent and safe driving, the laws, the rules and basic common-sense. I see it every day...over and over again, no regard for personal safety or the safety of the others around them, as if they are driving in some indestructible, protective bubble surrounding their top-heavy, short wheelbase SUV as they focus on everything BUT driving. Driving has become a distraction from personal entertainment and social media. Unfortunately as professionals we not only need to drive for ourselves, but also anticipate every possible boneheaded move a 4-wheeler will deliberately make.

If there is any one thing that will push me out of the drivers seat and into early retirement ...it's this. All other BS aside, this is the biggest problem we all face. And unfortunately it's getting worse. Not unlike big pharma wanting the entire country "sick"... more money in that model for them. Bad drivers, ducking personal responsibility are a cash cow for billboard lawyers.

Https://cdllife.com/2019/police-cleared-truck-driver-of-wrongdoing-in-fatal-crash-but-the-family-is-still-suing-for-10-million/

Just read this article yesterday. Driver doing everything right and finds himself being sued by a lady that lost control and wrecked into him. A lot like the recent Werner case recently where a jury awarded the "victim" nearly $100 million. In that case the car lost control, crossed a median to crash into the truck, and then sued. Pretty sure that got vacated but still.

I'm all for these idiots that are too busy with their cellphone to notice stopped traffic going to prison when they plow through a bunch of people, but some of these civil cases against trucking companies and their drivers are insane.

With regard to who was at fault in the accident, Texas is a comparative fault state meaning that even if you were 49% at fault you can still sue for damages. I could not find the actual jury verdict, but below is a quote from the article linked further below showing the jury's determination of fault among the parties.

The jury found Werner 70 percent responsible for causing the injuries, its driver 14 percent responsible and the driver of the plaintiffs’ vehicle 16 percent responsible.

So the jury did find that the truck driver was less at fault than 4 wheel driver. However, the jury found overwhelming responsibility directly on Werner.

The article mentions

Werner-owned truck that was allegedly inadequately equipped with sufficient safety features.

I don't know what they mean by this, but I would also not be surprised that the evidence may have involved dispatch insisting that the driver continue despite reservations from the driver.

The articles also state that Werner planned to appeal. I could not find any follow up articles regarding the results of that appeal.

Werner $90 million Texas Lawsuit

I could rant about this all night. Interested in knowing how the jury came up with the number of Werner being 70 percent responsible. 70 percent bigger than the car perhaps. 90 million dollars is absolutely insane. For what? Making Werner pay anything in my opinion is insane. But hey, a jury can do whatever they want. No doubt a tragic incident but c'mon now. What if the driver missed the truck, and slammed into the ditch with the same outcome? Sue the state for not having a safety barrier? Roads weren't salted properly? My guess is the verdict was Werner has money and this family has been devastated by this accident so lets get that money.

No amount of money will change the outcome of what happen.