California Injury Blog
A Beverly Hills 19-year-old rear-ended a parked big rig truck near the Hollywood Way off ramp of the Ventura (134) Freeway in Burbank, according to the California Highway Patrol, as reported by The Daily News.
According to CHP Officer Patrick Kimball, Tristan Maes, died at the scene of the accident on the westbound 134. Apparently Maes slammed into the back of a big rig that was parked in a freeway gore point, the triangular area of roadway where the road splits near the Hollywood Way off ramp, at about 2:40 a.m. on March 13, 2008.
My heart goes out to the family and friends of Tristan Maes. This was a totally foreseeable and preventable accident. And I’ll bet that a complete, unbiased investigation will show that the truck driver that parked the big rig truck in the gore point is either partially or primarily responsible for this teenager’s death.
If the family wants to assure themselves of what really happened, who is really at fault and to hold any wrongdoers accountable, they would be well served consulting with a personal injury law firm that is very familiar with parked truck accidents and has a history of success with such cases.
Illegally parked trucks on freeways and highways cause or contribute to a significant number of injuries and death each year. According to National Transportation Safety Board (2000), only a small number of large truck accidents involved illegally parked vehicles. However, these accidents have a high risk of fatality or injury.
In the last few years we have been involved in a number of accident cases involving illegally parked big rig trucks that were hit by passenger cars. In every one of them, we have been successful in holding the truck driver and the truck company, at least partially responsible, for the injuries and deaths of the passenger car occupants.