Road Safety Facts

Only 3% of the registered vehicles in the United States are tractor-trailer trucks; but 23% of fatal multi-vehicle accidents involve a tractor-trailer truck. 5,000 people per year are killed in tractor-trailer related crashes. Call us at 1-800-394-2119 for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.

Reasonable safety regulation should require all tractor-trailers to have speed regulators with laws limiting top speeds to 65 mph. Until these changes are made, the number of fatal and serious trucking accidents will continue to rise. Please write a letter asking the U.S. Department of Transportation and Senate Transportation Committee members to support these regulatory changes.

What You Should Know

Tractor-trailers can result in severe injuries or death. Actions taken shortly after the accident often have a dramatic effect on the outcome of litigation. Appropriate steps to preserve physical evidence, investigate the accident scene, take witness statements are all essential to success.

Physical evidence in the form of debris fields and skid marks, if available, need to be evaluated by a well qualified accident reconstructionist as soon as possible. Photographs of the accident scene need to be taken immediately after the accident. Witness statements need to be taken promptly in order to preserve critical evidence.

A traffic accident involving a commercial truck, such as an eighteen-wheeler or other large freight carrier, can be much more catastrophic than an ordinary car accident.

A typical fully-loaded large commercial truck can weigh 80,000 pounds or more, while an average passenger automobile weighs approximately 3000 pounds. Because of this size disparity, and due to the basic laws of physics, any collision between a commercial truck and another vehicle is likely to result in serious, even fatal, injuries. While statistics show that truck drivers are generally much more careful on the road than automobile drivers, and thankfully the incidence of fatal crashes involving trucks and other large vehicles has declined in recent years, large truck crashes still accounted for 5350 fatalities and 133,000 injuries in 2001.

Choosing a Lawyer

In choosing a lawyer/law firm to handle a major tractor-trailer case the experience and success in handling truckling lawsuits is essential. Our firm offers Board-certification as a Civil and Medical Liability specialist and a track-record of winning million dollar settlements and judgments in trucking cases.

David Randolph Smith is Certified as a Civil Litigation Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization. Mr. Smith is also certified as a Medical Malpractice Specialist by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization.

Certification requires proof that the attorney is in good standing, is substantially involved in litigating and trying cases (including minimum trial day requirements), has met continuing legal education requirements and has been subjected to peer review by persons against whom they have tried cases, as well as judges before whom they have appeared.

Fewer than 1% of Tennessee's attorneys are certified as Civil Trial Specialists and only 10 attorneys are certified as Medical Malpractice Specialists.

We have successfully handled numerous tractor-trailer cases. The firm has handled fatal tractor-trailer trucking accident cases in Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia resulting in multi-million dollar settlements and judgments.

We stand ready to represent you and to promptly take the action necessary to gather and preserve important evidence in order to obtain a successful outcome for you.

Several factors should be considered by a prospective client in seeking quality legal representation when a tractor-trailer accident occurs:

• Time is of the essence - an investigation should be completed promptly.
• A firm should be ready to investigate on short notice.
• A firm should have the ability to investigate quickly
• The firm routinely uses private airplanes for this purpose
• A firm should be able to evaluate medical issues -Mr. Smith is certified in medical malpractice and the firm uses nurses and conslutants to assist with preparation of medical proof.