Truck Accidents 360 Newswire

Posts Tagged ‘Savannah Truck Accident Attorneys’

SAVANNAH, GA – A 3 year old boy was killed when a semi truck crashed into a minivan carrying a family heading south on I-95 about 45 miles outside of Savannah, Georgia  in McIntosh County near mile marker 63 on December 27, 2009 about 12:30 pm.

Fatal semi truck crash on Interstate 95 just south of Savannah, GA

The Thornton family from Pittsburgh, PA was on its way to a vacation in Florida when the semi tractor-trailer plowed into the rear of their minivan, killing  3-year old Sean Thornton who was in a car seat at the time.

According to Georgia State Police, at the time of the accident, the minivan was being driven by his mother, Susan Thornton, 38 years old who is listed in critical condition at a hospital in Savannah, GA.

Location of fatal semi truck accident about 45 miles south of Savannah, GA on I-95

The boy’s father, Daniel Thornton, 47 years old, and two other children Christopher, age 8 and Sarah, age 5 were also in the vehicle at the time. All sustained injuries – some serious, but all were reported as non-life-threatening.

The accident occurred when heavy traffic forced the family’s vehicle to slow down to about 5 mph when the 18 wheeler, driven by Willie Hill, 50 years old from Jacksonville, FL, slammed into the back of the minivan. The force of the accident caused the vehicles to become entangled and to be shoved off the roadway into the woods by the side of the road, knocking down a couple of trees along the way.

According to witnesses, the big rig was travelling about 70 mph at the time and never braked before plowing into the van. According to a story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Hill could face criminal charges. Georgia State Patrol said that the accident is being investigated, but as of this morning, a spokeswoman from the district attorney’s office in McIntosh County said no charges had been filed.

Below is a Google street view of the approximate stretch of highway where the accident occurrred on Interstate 95 about 45 miles south of Savannah, GA. You can click and drag the mouse button to get a 360 degree view of the scene.

View Larger Map

Related searches:
Pennsylvania Truck Accident Attorney
Pittsburgh Truck Accident Lawyer
Georgia Truck Accident Attorney
Savannah Truck Accident Lawyer

Atlanta truck accident lawyers,  Gordon & Elias, have prepared an educational video explaining how bad truck brakes and poor maintenance can turn a 35-ton semi truck or tractor trailer into a killing machine.

When trying to establish what causes truck accidents many times the inspection reveals the brakes of the truck or trailer were the cause of the accident. That is why it is imperative that when you hire a Georgia truck accident lawyer that the lawyer understands this cause.

Truck Brakes Need to Be Inspected

The first thing one needs to know about truck brakes is that they are not fixed on the road and that there are many different types of brake problems. Most trucks use air brakes and most trucks require sealed lines. Often times there will be a leak in a line. These are the potential problems that need to be detected before the trucker goes out on the road.

The requirement for the trucking company is that they do what is called a pre trip inspection. Part of that pre trip inspection is the brakes. Many times a trucker will have bad brakes and stay on the road even though he is aware that the brakes are bad. He wants to just keep on going, obviously because maintenance costs money and the trucker doesn’t want to spend money.

This act of negligence can result in costs much greater than brake repairs. We are talking about the cost of a human life.

Trucking Companies are Responsible for Maintenance

“The truck company is suppose to take care of their trucks. If they don’t, they can be held liable”, says Steve Gordon, who is an expert Atlanta & Savannah truck accident attorney. ” But the buck stops with the truck driver in a sense because he or she is the one on the road with a 35-ton big rig that can turn into a killing machine at any given moment.”

Our Georgia truck accident lawyers have experts located nationwide and in Georgia including Atlanta, Albany, Augusta, Macon, Savannah and other metropolitan cities. Our experts, who we call upon, are literally truck brake specialists. They come, access the brakes and do what is necessary to determine if it was a braking issue and whether that was the cause of the accident.

Bad truck brakes can cause the truck to jacknife and skidmarks on the road can determine often times whether a tire or brake engaged stopping the tire.

A Trucking Accident Requires Expert Lawyers

Finally bad brakes can increase the stopping distance of the vehicle. For instance if the truck driver had good brakes, he could stop on time, but if the trucker had bad brakes then he would not be able stop on time.

Bad brakes and poor maintenance of brakes is an issue that is almost always present in a truck accident and needs to be assessed by qualified truck accident lawyers and their experts.

Related Truck Accident Attorney Searches:

Atlanta GA truck accident lawyers
Albany GA truck accident lawyers
Augusta  GA truck accident attorneys
Macon GA truck accident lawyers
Savannah GA truck accident attorneys