Tennessee Trucker Killed in Catastrophic Virginia Tractor Trailer Wreck

Accidents involving tractor trailers cause greater amounts of property damage and more severe injuries than accidents where only passenger vehicles are involved. The sheer size and weight of these enormous vehicles, as well as the way that they are constructed, create the potential for very serious accidents. When two or more tractor trailers are involved in an accident or a series of accidents, there will most likely be massive amounts of damage and severe injuries. Sometimes, there are even one or more fatalities.

On April 1, a Tennessee truck driver was one of two people who were killed in a series of accidents on Interstate 81 in Wythe County, Virginia. The event which triggered the tragic turn of events was an accident involving a single tractor trailer. The tractor trailer overturned, and came to rest in the median and on the left lane of the southbound side of the road. The driver of the truck sustained minor injuries, and he has been charged with reckless driving. The driver of a SUV which collided with the overturned tractor trailer was not as fortunate as the driver of the tractor trailer. She died on the way to the hospital. When the tractor trailer overturned, it damaged the guardrail. A piece of the guardrail was in the roadway, on the northbound side of the road. A tractor trailer driven by James R. Anderson, of Tennessee, hit the piece of guardrail and went through the median and over the edge of the interstate bridge before coming to rest on the roadway below, where it caught fire. This third accident claimed the life of James R. Anderson. Anderson’s passenger, Jeremy W, Johnson, was ejected from the tractor trailer during the crash and sustained life-threatening injuries.

This chain reaction accident illustrates how tractor trailer accident scenarios can be much different from accidents involving only passenger vehicles. If the driver of the SUV had hit a passenger vehicle which was in the roadway as the result of an earlier accident, there is a greater chance that she might have survived. Also, if the initial accident had not involved an overturned tractor trailer, it is possible that the piece of guardrail which caused the third accident may not have been knocked into in the roadway. If the vehicle which was involved in the third accident had been a passenger vehicle, it may not have gone so far off of the road after it hit the piece of guard rail, and it might not have gone over the side of the interstate bridge. While it is anyone’s guess how things could have gone differently if one or both of the two tractor trailers involved in the chain reaction were passenger vehicles, it is likely that there would have been less damage, and injuries that were less severe. What we do know is that the entire situation began with one tractor trailer, which was being driven in a reckless manner.

If you or someone that you love has been injured or killed in an accident involving one or more tractor trailers or other commercial vehicles, it is important that you speak with a trucking accident attorney right away. The experienced Tennessee trucking accident attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC would like to learn more about your case. When we speak with you about the accident, we can answer any questions that you may have, explain your options, and help you decide how to proceed. To learn more about how we can help you, please call us at 901-680-9777 to schedule a time to discuss your case with us.  At Bailey & Greer, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.

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