Every driver has a basic duty to respond to a road hazard on a public road or highway. Professional drivers are held to an even higher standard. A truck driver who fails to take necessary and appropriate action can cause a lot of pain and damage. That is what happened to Constance, a client of [...]
The eastern part of Washington State is rural with lots of open roadways. Semi-truck traffic is common, with truck drivers traveling both across the state and down from Canada. What I have seen over my career in handling truck crash cases, is that commercial drivers can often get complacent and allow their minds to drift [...]
When we investigate a semi crash, one of the first things we do is preserve the black box data. Preserving the "black box" An electronic control unit (ECU) is the embedded system that controls one of more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a vehicle. This system - what we think of as a [...]
Early in the morning of February 20, a major semi-truck crash on I-5 shut down the interstate for several hours. Initial reports from Oregon State Police (OSP) indicate that the semi truck was headed southbound on I-5 near Wilsonville, Oregon, and crossed into the northbound lanes. It looks like four vehicles were involved in the semi-truck [...]
Entry-level truck drivers with commercial licensing requirements will face significant changes to training rules and regulations in 2020. New Commercial Driver Rules According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA), new rules will soon apply to entry-level commercial truck drivers. On February 7, 2020, new national training standards will apply to all entry-level driver [...]
This post originally appeared on Coluccio-Law.com, and is reposted here with permission. The family of a pedestrian who was run over by a street sweeper have settled their wrongful death lawsuit against the companies that owned and operated the heavy equipment. In February 2018, the victim, Mr. Alexandru Culai, was struck and killed by a [...]
I was recently asked about the laws governing truck parking along the highway. Last month an Oregon man died after crashing into a semi truck parked on the shoulder of OR Highway 201. There was a similar crash the month before, involving a mail truck and a parked big rig. The law about parking big rigs [...]
I've been a plaintiff's lawyer for more than 30 years, so of course I believe that hiring a lawyer is usually the right move for victims of trucking and automobile crashes. But aside from my (admittedly biased) perspective, there is actually a very good reason for hiring an experienced truck crash attorney as soon as possible. [...]
On February 22, 2004, Maria Federici was blinded and nearly killed by a piece of particle board that flew out of a rented trailer, struck her windshield and hit her in the face. The driver of the vehicle pulling the trailer had been moving all day, and failed to properly secure the particle board in [...]
The following information is an excerpt of a presentation given to the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys by plaintiff's lawyer Kevin Coluccio. I have taken the depositions of many motor carrier Safety Directors. As I became more experienced and knowledgeable, I developed the skill of questioning defendant witnesses in such a manner as to make [...]
