St. Louis Logging Truck Accidents

Logging is an important industry in Missouri, contributing over $10 billion to the state’s economy each year. While forestry is essential for Missouri it also means that large, looming trucks hauling giant logs are a common sight on the state’s roadways, including in St. Louis. Logging trucks may weigh as much as 80,000 pounds when fully loaded and hauling around 33,000 pounds of logs. The massive size and weight of logging trucks in St. Louis are dangerous enough, but the additional threat of thousands of pounds of rolling logs leaves motorists vulnerable to injuries ranging from serious to catastrophic or fatal in a crash.

Causes of Logging Truck Accidents In Missouri

Research reveals a notable increase in logging truck accidents over time, despite safety regulations by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The most common causes of logging truck crashes include the following:

• Fatigued drivers
• Distracted driving
• Unbalanced, improperly secured, or suddenly shifting loads
• Speeding around curves
• Taking wide turns
• Unsafe lane changes due to extended blind spots
• Improper merging
• Inadequate truck and trailer maintenance or faulty repairs
• Defective parts or equipment
• Failure to yield the right of way
• Impaired drivers

Logging truck accidents in St. Louis and throughout Missouri include rollover accidents, spilled log accidents, T-bone collisions, head-on collisions, sideswipes, collisions with obstacles, and roadway departure accidents. When a large logging truck crashes and loose logs spill into the road, it sometimes impacts multiple vehicles and causes chain reaction accidents and multi-car pileups, leaving litigation especially difficult without the help of a St. Louis truck accident lawyer.

Injuries In Logging Truck Accidents

About 70% of truck accident injuries and fatalities occur to other motorists involved in collisions rather than the truck driver. Depending on the type and severity of the accident, injuries range from mild and inconvenient for fortunate survivors to catastrophic, life-altering injuries or fatalities. Common injuries in Missouri logging truck accidents include the following:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Fractures, including of the limbs, hips, ribs, spine, and pelvis
• Neck injuries
• Back injuries
• Internal bleeding/internal organ damage
• Soft tissue injuries like sprains, strains, and torn ligaments
• Spinal cord injuries
• Burns
• Crush injuries

When a logging truck accident causes a fatality, close family members can recover compensation through a wrongful death claim. A successful claim cannot erase the injury, but it eases the associated financial hardship caused by expensive medical bills coming due at the same time you may be unable to return to work in your previous capacity or at all. Obtaining compensation also provides injury victims a sense of financial accountability and justice for their trauma and suffering.

Recovering Damages In a Wrongful Death Claim In St. Louis

Common damages recovered by survivors of logging truck accidents include past and future medical expenses for injuries, lost earnings, lowered future earning capacity due to disability, and compensation for pain and suffering. In some cases, other damages apply such as loss of enjoyment of life, PTSD, disfigurement, or traumatic limb loss.

Contact Miller & Hine If You’ve Experienced Injuries In a Logging Truck Accident In St. Louis or the Surrounding Missouri Area

A successful logging truck accident claim requires an experienced investigation to determine the liable party since multiple entities are involved in the logging industry and freight transportation. Recovering the maximum compensation depends on a careful calculation of your damages to pursue all available compensation from the correct insurance policies of one or more liable parties. Call Miller & Hine for the experienced St. Louis personal injury representation your case deserves and the best possible outcome.