Westchester County

Published on: April 9, 2012

Overturned Logger Could be Trouble

by Stephen Bilkis

Traffic on Harris Creek Road was obstructed on Monday due to a logging accident which had occurred early in the day in the Horseshoe Bend area of Boise, Idaho. A witness who was present at the scene reported that the driver operating the logging truck had just been hired by the logging company and was working his first day on the job. This claim could not be corroborated by third-party sources.

Photos of the truck accident site show the truck on its side against a very steep, snowy embankment. The load of logs the rig was carrying appears to have been dislodged, and pieces of timber can be seen 50 to 60 feet from the truck. The person who reported on the incident said that large rigs can frequently get into trouble in snowy conditions. Under normal circumstances, a small shift in weight, or an unbalanced tire might not cause significant problems, but in heavy snow these issues can become significant.

Additional details on the accident were unavailable at this time, pending an investigation by the local police department, as well as by the logging company itself. The cause of the incident is unknown, as is the condition of the logging truck operator. The Lawyer interviewed for this article stated that cases like this occasionally result in criminal proceedings, and it is possible that the reporting officers are remaining particularly tight-lipped about the details of the accident, pending criminal charges.

Published on: March 10, 2012

Death of truck driver in crash

by Stephen Bilkis

Police told a source that a service truck crashed this morning, approximately 10:30 a.m., on Highway 80 East. Unfortunately, the truck accident resulted in the death of the truck driver.

During the accident, the service truck flipped over and landed on its side, while it crashed over in the median. One of the axles on the truck flew in the air before the truck actually crashed in the center of the main lane on the highway.

Police told the source that they were not sure of the cause of this accident and so they are still continuing their investigation of the accident. There were no witnesses to the accident, therefore, the police investigation is ongoing and is going to be very limited, because the police does not have much to work on except the accident scene.

Published on: March 7, 2012

Truck carrying hay overturns

by Stephen Bilkis

A large truck turned over on Highway 15 in close proximity to the Dillon area this afternoon and caused a traffic congestion that was miles long. The truck was carrying hay and when it overturned, all of its contents were scattered on the highway, tells a witness.

Tis particular truck accidentcaused a major delay is on the highway and police had to shut down more than one lanes. The accident happened during rush hour. It happened approximately 1 p.m. in the afternoon. The police came on the scene to put things in order. They told the authorities that the truck was exiting the Twin Bridges area onto the highway when it shifted and tipped over. There are about 30 bales of hay packed on the truck. When this happened, the two southbound lanes were shut down for over an hour until the police got the roads cleared.

The police said that fortunately for the driver of the truck, he was not injured during the accident. He was a little shaken up, because of what happened, but he came out without a scratch on his body. Police patrolled the area until all of the hay was taken up off of the highway. Traffic resumed as soon as the roads were cleared and the lanes were open for the evening rush hour.

Published on: March 2, 2012

Train and truck collision

by Stephen Bilkis

Police reported to an investigator that a National Railway Company train crashed with a tractor-trailer that two women were driving in. According to the police, no one was injured in the truck accident. The truck was taking auto the parts to Kentucky from Newbern. The police investigation revealed that the accident happened on Wednesday at approximately 6 15 p.m.

The tractor trailer was traveling on Parks Road. At one point, the tractor-trailer got caught on the tracks, while it was going downtown to Newbern. The driver of the truck was a woman and she was from Illinois. She was unable to drive the truck forward, and neither could she back the truck up from the train track. Both women were attempting to call for assistance when they saw that the train was coming, believes a witness who happened to be near the scene of the truck accident. They were unable to call 911, because the train came right down on them just as soon as they exited the vehicle. The story made news in Staten Island and Westlchester.

The train was going at such a rapid speed that he was not able to stop and so, it crashed through the tractor trailer until it came to a stop approximately 75 yards ahead. The impact of the accident split the tractor-trailer in half, and as a result, all of the auto parts were scattered around the surrounding area. The women were lucky not to have gotten hurt in this terrible accident. According to a reporter who was working the story for the local newspaper, the scene looked like something from a movie. “The Fugitive” came to mind and was mentioned in the story he wrote for the paper.

Published on: February 22, 2012

Truck driver drowned in accident

by Stephen Bilkis

An accident occurred in Bath County on Monday, where a chart driver was killed when his semi truck went over Highway 64 overpass. The semi truck landed in a creek below the overpass and the truck driver was unable to get out, therefore he died from drowning.

The coroner in Bath County told a reporter that the day was very windy in the area at the time. He thought that the high winds were a contributor to the truck driver’s death. Police also reported that the truck driver was on his way to Virginia. Eventually he would have wound up in New York City and then, Westchester County.

He had left Detroit with auto parts loaded to his semi-truck. He was on the job and had not anticipated that anything would happen. It was when rescuers began to search that they found the truck driver’s body that Thursday night approximately 7 p.m.

Published on: February 14, 2012

Cleveland 18 Wheeler Goes Off the Rails

by Stephen Bilkis

A routine haul for one Cleveland area big-rigger ended in tragedy on Tuesday, said a witness who was in contact with a representative from the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office.

The accident occurred after the 18 wheeler, which was heading down Interstate 480, jackknifed on the Valley View Bridge, sending the cab of the semi over the edge of the bridge, landing in a patch of trees. The driver of the truck was an unidentified middle-aged man who was native to the Cleveland area. Fortunately, no additional people were involved in the truck accident, and there was no damage to other cars on the bridge. The source explained after the accident that the driver was driving erratically, and may have been weaving from side to side.

Rescue units responded from at least four different counties to the scene of the accident. Forces from Brooklyn Heights, Independence, Cuyahoga Heights, and Garfield Heights were all present, but unfortunately nothing could be done for the driver of the truck, who was declared dead at the scene.

Published on: January 9, 2012

SUV swerves to avoid vehicle suddenly slowing down, hits rear end of semi

by Stephen Bilkis

But for a chain of errors, this truck accidentmay not have happened, reported an observer. This accident would almost be comical if it were not for the fact that there were children involved in the accident. What happened is that an SUV was barreling down the highway, when the female driver suddenly found herself confronted with a car in front of her that suddenly slowed down.

With no other options open to her, the woman swung the SUV out of the left hand lane and promptly hit the rear end of big rig in the right hand lane. The 18-wheeler didn’t sustain any damage, but the same could not be said for the SUV, commented the reporter. The semi driver pulled onto the shoulder and the SUV parked on the median while waiting for the police to arrive with a tow truck, as the SUV was in no condition to drive.

When medical crews also arrived, the woman refused treatment for herself and her two children, saying she would go to her own doctor to have her kids checked out. They were complaining of pain from being suddenly restrained by their seatbelts when the SUV hit the back of the truck, explained the doctor. Frankly, this family was really lucky to make it out of this accident with seemingly minor injuries. It could have been far worse for everyone, and in particular the children.

Published on: December 11, 2011

Woman on Motorized Wheelchair Killed by Truck

by Stephen Bilkis

Sometimes, bad things happen to good people and there seems to be no explanation for it. But then again, if you take a close look at some truck accident cases, there may be something else there just under the surface, waiting to be discovered.

This case was particularly heartbreaking, as it involved a 71-year old woman in a motorized wheelchair crossing at a marked intersection. She was struck and killed by a garbage truck driver who was initially charged with negligent homicide, a misdemeanor carrying up to two years prison time if convicted. When the case got to trial, the judge ruled that he should not stand trial for this charge, explained the observer. There is an appeal under consideration.

There are many things that could have happened in this case, not the least of which is that the woman in the wheelchair, despite seeing the truck, may have proceeded to cross anyway. Stranger things have happened and if she thought the truck had a lot of time to stop, she may have decided she had time to cross and he may not have had time to stop that large truck.

Published on: November 24, 2011

Road Conditions Led to Truck Versus SUV Accident, Said New York Trucking Accident Lawyer

by Stephen Bilkis

In winter, you can virtually count on the fact that the roads are going to be less than safe. Driving at highway speeds is usually not a good idea.

In this truck accident involving an SUV and a semi, five were injured, including three children. All the victims were taken to the nearest hospital for treatment, while the police remained at the scene trying to determine what happened. All five occupants of the SUV were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

It appears as if the SUV was heading south and the trucker was heading north. The SUV driver lost control of his vehicle as the result of an icy, snow covered highway. The SUV veered into the north lane. The trucker, seeing them coming, swerved into the south lane to try and avoid or minimize the accident. Unfortunately, he was not able to mitigate the wreck, indicated the investigator.

Published on: November 21, 2011

Trucking Company Safety Records Show Multiple Infractions

by Stephen Bilkis

Just recently we all got a lesson in how quickly a trucking companies safety records can be accessed in the event of a wreck. This particular truck accident was billed as being not only horrific, but it took the lives of two. It was mere minutes after the collision that a team of reporters started to check out the safety record of the owner of one of the rigs in the carnage.

Turns out that investigative team located not just one or two violations for the trucking company, but, several pages of them. In fact, the company in question had acquired at least 28 unsafe driving violations that ran the gamut from speeding to following to close and from improper lane changes to fatigued drivers. This company had so many violations, that the USDOT put out an alert on the company, recounted the spokesman. Not exactly a good thing for business, but more to the point is what was the company thinking?

These violations were evidently the tip of the iceberg and further digging by safety inspectors in Long Island and Westchester uncovered at least 46 maintenance violations. In other words, the trucks owned by this particular company were truck accidents looking for a place to happen and sure enough, happen they did.