Long Island

Published on: May 21, 2012

18-Wheeler Hits Car Then Overturns

by Stephen Bilkis

Added to a series of accidents involving tractor-trailers nationwide this year, a tractor-trailer hits a car before it overturns. Local authorities near Shreveport, LA, are in the process of cleaning up a two-vehicle collision involving a tractor-trailer and a car.

This accident occurred on southbound I-49 about 1a.m. Sunday. It began with the driver of the tractor-trailer becoming distracted while reaching for a bag of potato chips. While reaching for these chips, he allowed the truck to veer into the lane to his left. By the time the driver realized what had happened, he attempted to correct his path but in so doing, he wiped out the vehicle that was in the left lane. It was at this point that both vehicles overturned after leaving the roadway. Accidents like this are unusual in Manhattan and Long Island.

First responders arrived at the accident scene within minutes, rerouted traffic as necessary, and attended to the injured. Both the driver of the tractor-trailer and the driver of the car received life-threatening injuries. The car driver was stabilized for transport, airlifted from the accident scene, and taken to LSU Medical Center, where she remains in intensive care (ICU) in critical condition.

Published on: May 5, 2012

Tour Bus and Semi Collide Killing One

by Stephen Bilkis

One woman was killed and four others were injured after a tour bus and a tractor-trailer collided Saturday night. The truck accident occurred just after 7pm on Highway 33 in the town of Herman, which is approximately five miles west of Allenton, WI, after the semi-driver reportedly failed to yield to the bus at the intersection of Highway 33 and Highway P, and the semi slammed into the bus.

Immediately after the collision, the bus flipped twice and slid into the ditch, witnesses have told the police. Law enforcement officials at the scene stated that the accident could have been much, worse than it was, had the bus been fully laden with passengers. The 52-year old driver and the surviving passenger, also a 75-year old woman, were all transported to different local hospitals for treatment. Their current medical conditions are unknown as of the time of this article.

While the bus lay on its side in the ditch, the truck (a cabover with the truck cab over top of the engine) was raised up and over to the side and was completely mangled due to the crash. The 30-year old driver and the 30-year old passenger of the semi were not quite as fortunate, for both had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. The highway was closed due to the accident for more than six hours. Firefighters were watchful for any signs of fire and were concerned with any fuel that could spill either from the overturned bus, or from the mangled semi-truck.

Published on: April 28, 2012

Police Looking for Witness to Vehicle Accident

by Stephen Bilkis

The driver of a Wonderbread truck may have witnessed a fatal vehicle crash that killed a 20-year old man. Police are looking for the bread truck driver to question him about what he saw on Nashville Road and Highway 50 around 6:30am when the accident occurred. The young man was driving in one direction when his car jumped the center divider and hit a pickup truck traveling in the other direction. There are no other witnesses to question about this accident.

The driver of the pickup truck survived and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for minor bruises and other minor injuries. It is unclear at this time why the young man would swerve his car into the lane. The car may have malfunctioned or the man may have fallen asleep behind the wheel. With many possibilities, local law enforcement officials are hoping the bread truck driver may be able to provide additional details. So far, police have not been able to locate the driver of the bread truck.

Since police have yet to determine how this accident happened, the young man’s name has not been released. Police may also need more time to locate the man’s family so they can make funeral arrangements and begin the grieving process. Funeral arrangements will probably be announced once the man’s identity has been released.

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 5, 2012

Truck blocks highway

by Stephen Bilkis

A source close to the story related the details of an accident that occurred on Monday during the morning rush hours in the Washington County area. According to police, a tractor-trailer driver was going eastbound into the Buffalo Township area, which is off Interstate 70 when the vehicle spun out of control and landed westbound on Highway 70. Fortunately for everyone, there were no cars in that westbound lane doing the time of the truck crash.

The trailer truck driver was escorted to the hospital, and the police told the interested parties that they are looking into whether they should file charges against the truck driver or not. The police completed their reports for a newspaper, and stated that because of the accident all westbound lanes on Highway 70 were shut down for hours and this caused a lot of traffic congestion.

In addition, the vehicle’s diesel fuel spilled on the highway and had to be cleaned up by crews that were summoned to the accident scene. The witness who saw it all believes that the truck was en route to another state, laden with pie crusts in the body of the truck. Because of the existence of the Long Island Expressway, accidents like this one are common in Queens and Long Island. The Expressway creates dangers and runs through both of these locals in New York.

Published on: February 10, 2012

Woman dies in truck accident

by Stephen Bilkis

Police told a reporter that a woman was killed on Saturday morning after her pickup truck crashed into a tractor-trailer in Lindley town. The woman was from Corning, which is a town nearby. The truck accident happened approximately 5:40 p.m. between Stowell Road and Route 15, which was close to the highway as police told the lawyer. The woman was 54 years old, and she was on her way to visit her family. The car got out of control, while it was driving east on Stowell Road.

She was unable to stop the car when she got to the intersection. Therefore, the car skidded on the road and careened into the front of the tractor-trailer that was coming in the opposite direction. At least, this is what the source believes. The man that was driving the tractor-trailer was 60 years of age, and he was driving from Trenton, Ontario. The truck driver was not able to stop the truck in time to save the woman. So the tractor trailer hit the pickup truck that the woman was driving and it struck the side where the passenger sits. Accidents like this are common in Long Island but not in New York City.

According to the media, the woman was dead on the scene. The coroner also confirmed the woman’s death on the scene. There was an eight-year-old in the passenger seat at the time of the truck accident. However, that eight-year-old passenger was not seriously hurt. He was treated at a hospital because of complaining about pain in his neck, and his back. The police reported to the public that they are continuing their investigation into this matter. At this time, no traffic tickets will be issued, according to the police report.

Published on: February 5, 2012

Luck was with this overturned semi driver

by Stephen Bilkis

No one goes off to work in the morning thinking they may be in an truck accident. The trucker in this accident case wasn’t expecting to overturn his rig either, said a friend. Unfortunately, it happened and the truck blocked large portions of the Interstate near an exit ramp. Traffic was re-routed around the big rig and on to the shoulder.

The police report is not clear on what caused the trucker to overturn his rig. They are searching for his cell phone and any other items in the cab of the truck that will give them some idea of what he was doing just prior to the accident. They will want to know if he was texting or talking on his cell phone, using a computer while driving or adjusting his GPS on the dashboard. It only takes mere seconds of inattention to the road to lose control of an 18-wheeler, explained the source.

The roads at the time weren’t in the best condition and there is also some speculation that the truck accident may have been caused by the semi hitting a patch of black ice, which raises the question of what speed the trucker was going. The police will be checking the onboard computer to find out his speed and whether or not he applied his brakes before rolling over.

Published on: January 20, 2012

Trucker overturns with load of live chickens

by Stephen Bilkis

Some days, it doesn’t even pay to get out of bed and go to work. Some days, things go fine and other days, they wind up to be a truly memorable occasion that one wishes to forget. This trucking accidentcase was one of those days the trucker would love to write off and forget, but, unfortunately, it will likely dog his footsteps for many years to come, given the nature of the mishap.

The big rig in this case was heading south on the highway and for some reason, yet to be determined, the rig flipped over. The cargo was 8,740 live chickens on their way to the processing plant, explained a report. The accident scene posed a major problem for rescue crews as they would need to figure out how to handle the chickens and where to take them.

The trucker wasn’t badly hurt; shaken up, but did not receive life-threatening injuries. He will be questioned by the police as to what happened just prior to his rig flipping over, said the police. Was he reaching for something on the dashboard or the seat next to him? Was he DUI? Was he trying to dial a cell phone? One thing is for sure, if he had not turned over with no one near him at the time, this truck accident could have turned out to be a lot worse than it was.