A San Bernardino County semi truck accident on Interstate 15 near Devore has critically injured a man who was apparently run over by his own car after it was hit by a large truck on Wednesday, June 25th, according to a news article in The Press-Enterprise.
California Highway Patrol Officer Charles Murray, said the accident happened on the northbound side of the Interstate 15 freeway near Glen Helen Road. The driver of a disabled car had gotten out and pushed it backwards from the shoulder to get to an off-ramp. He had ended up in the slow lane of the freeway when a semi truck struck the car from behind, catching him under its trailer. The truck then dragged the car before hitting the center median of the freeway.
The unidentified driver of the compact car was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center with major injuries. The semi truck driver had pain complaints and was treated at the scene.
San Bernardino County suffers about twice as many large truck injury accidents than the statewide average, based upon population. In 2006 California experienced 7,307 large truck injury accidents, compared to 703 for San Bernardino County. I attribute the number of large truck injury accidents in San Bernardino to its size and heavy truck traffic compared to its relatively small population for its geographical size. These statistics are from the California Highway Patrol.
Without a full investigation it is hard to tell who is at fault in this latest I-15 large truck accident. I’d bet that it turns out to be a shared liability situation, which means that the critically injured man may have substantial rights to recover compensation for his medical expenses, losses and injuries against the truck driver and his company. He and his family need to consult with a personal injury attorney well versed in challenging large truck accident cases and who has the personnel, skills and resources to investigate this accident and determine what rights and options the man and his family have.
You can be sure that the company that owns the semi truck has had accident investigators on the scene already and are trying to shade their investigation in favor of the semi truck driver. The critically injured man would be well served to quickly retain a law firm that can protect his interests.