Virginia State Police say that six people were injured in Campbell County VA on July 11 when their church van was rear ended by a tractor trailer on Route 460.
The five who were injured all were children and suffered minor to serious injuries. The police reported that the van was rear ended by a tractor trailer and then was sent into the westbound lane where it was hit by another truck.
After a week, two of the five children who were admitted to the hospital were still there. One of them had a broken femur and the other suffered a concussion.
Charges are pending against the tractor trailer driver.
Our View
Our truck accident attorneys in Virginia know that 13% of big rig accidents are caused by driver fatigue. While we do not know for certain in this Virginia truck crash, driver fatigue or inattention is certainly a possibility.
Truck drivers often fall asleep at the wheel because they are driving too many hours. This can be because the company itself is pressuring the driver to get where he is supposed to go on time. Driver fatigue can cause truckers to abuse both prescription and non-prescription drugs, which also can lead to serious accidents.
One of the challenges of winning a truck driver fatigue case is to prove that the driver was tired and unfit to drive at the time of the crash and that his tiredness caused the accident.
In some cases, the driver could appear fatigued to the police at the crash scene, or he may admit at the scene that he was tired. Reviewing the driver’s log could also provide some insight as to whether or not he was fit to drive when the crash happened.
This type of careful investigation of the cause of the truck crash can lead to substantial financial settlements, such as this $3.5 million case we handled.
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