Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

A Modesto truck driver has been charged with one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for his role in a fatal truck accident. The truck driver crashed an out of control big rig and killed 9 year old Tyler Fahy of San Mateo on September 22, 2008. According to an article in the San Francisco Examiner, Carlos Siordia, 43, was working for the Hayward-based construction company Century Roof Tile when the heavy-duty truck he was operating blew through an intersection. The large truck smashed into a car and several other cars in the parking lot of a grocery store.

Tyler was in the first vehicle struck by the out-of-control truck and died from his injuries. After a three-month investigation, San Mateo Police Department and California Highway Patrol officials determined that there were no mechanical malfunctions in the vehicle and that Siordia did not act in a grossly negligent manner. They determined that the brakes of the truck were operable as was the emergency brake. Siordia did not have a prior criminal record and had a valid commercial driver’s license. Tyler’s parents, including his mother Adrienne Colao, have sued Century Roof Tile for wrongful death. Colao was in the car when her son was killed.
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Vu Huy Phan, a 32-year-old Oakland man, was killed in a December 12, 2008 big rig accident after a large truck struck his car on Interstate 880 in Hayward. According to a news report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Phan was driving South on the Interstate 880 when he hit the back of a big rig near Industrial Parkway. Phan apparently pulled over on the far right lane of the freeway when another big rig struck his vehicle. Phan suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

My heart goes out to the family of Vu Huy Phan for their tragic loss. I offer my deepest condolences to them.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s truck accident statistics, there were 361 fatal accidents involving large trucks in California in 2007 and 10,635 injury accident involving big rigs during that same time. California tops the list of states with the highest number of fatal and major injury big rig accidents. Big rig accidents can be catastrophic simply because of the size and weight of the vehicle. Very often we see that the occupant of the passenger vehicle is seriously injured or killed in a big rig accident while the driver of the big rig usually escapes uninjured.
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Sang Kyung Oh, a 38-year-old San Jose woman, was killed in a big rig accident on a Mojave Desert highway on November 30, 2008. According to this news report in the San Jose Mercury News, Oh was a riding in a 2008 Kia Spectra westbound on Highway 58 in San Bernardino County near Kramer Junction. A semi truck that failed to brake in response to slowing traffic crashed into the back of the car, pushing it into the eastbound lanes at which time it was broadsided by an eastbound semi truck.

Oh was pronounced dead at the scene, California Highway Patrol officials said. The Kia’s driver, a 29-year-old man, suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries. No one else was injured in this fatal big rig crash.

I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Sang Kyung Oh. My heart goes out to the driver of the Kia, who was severely injured. I wish him the very best for a speedy and complete recovery. Please keep these victims and their families in your prayers.
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Fullerton resident Faith V. Wilson was one of four people killed in a Ludlow big rig accident on the 40 Freeway on November 9, 2008. According to this news report, the 11/9/08 accident occurred after a Porsche Cayenne, in which the 66-year-old Wilson was a passenger, was rear-ended by a tractor trailer and pushed off the roadway. Wilson was one of the victims who died on the scene. The names of the other deceased victims have not yet been released.

This is a horrific and tragic accident for the families of all four victims who were killed in this tractor trailer crash. My heart goes out to all of them.

Based on this news report, it appears that the driver of the big rig was at fault for this accident. We’ve seen time and again that when big rigs collide with passenger vehicles, the results can be devastating. This is largely because of the size and weight of commercial trucks. Big rigs can have a max gross weight of 80,000 pounds, and even more if they are carrying an oversized load. This is a striking difference when compared to the average passenger vehicle weight of about 4,000 pounds.
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Josh Sablan, a 19-year-old Visalia resident, suffered major injuries in an October 27, 2008 pickup versus big rig accident northwest of Tulare, the Visalia Times-Delta reports. Sablan was westbound on Avenue 248 near Road 68 when he tried to pass another vehicle. Sablan then struck the International big rig head-on. The truck was traveling east on Avenue 248, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The driver of the big rig, 39-year-old Stanley Gumm Jr., told CHP officials that he tried to swerve out of the way of Sablan’s 2006 GMC Sierra pickup truck, but couldn’t do so in time to avoid the 10/27/08 crash. Both drivers were apparently observing the 55 mph speed limit on that highway. Sablan was taken to a Fresno area hospital with critical injuries.
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A jury in Fresno has awarded 57-year-old Maria Blanca Lopez and her family $10.5 million for injuries she suffered in a Fresno big rig accident caused by an intoxicated truck driver on June 9, 2007. According to a news report in the Fresno Bee, Lopez suffered severe brain injuries in the 06/09/07 crash. Jesus Chavez Ramirez, an employee for DAV Charities, ran a stop sign and broadsided Lopez’s car at the intersection of Church and Valentine avenues. He was on the job at the time and had a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, which is the legal limit in California.

According to court documents, Ramirez had been drinking the night before the accident and was still drunk when he arrived at work. Despite being intoxicated, he was still allowed to operate the 20,000-pound dump truck. Ramirez pleaded guilty to drunk driving in November 2007 and was sentenced to one year in jail.
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Charles Lowe, 53, of Oxnard died in a fatal Ventura truck accident on Highway 101 after his vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer, the Ventura County Star reports . Lowe was reportedly traveling north on the freeway near East Main, when he hit a tractor trailer in the right lane, California Highway Patrol officials said. The motorcycle flipped on to its side and threw Lowe into the road. The driver of the big rig, 27-year-old Javier Tamayo, was reportedly uninjured.

I offer my deepest condolences to Lowe’s family and Charles’ friends for their enormous loss.

Motorcycle accidents have been steadily climbing especially in states such as California and Florida where their popularity is ever-increasing. In 2006 there were 11 motorcycle accident fatalities and 224 reported injuries from motorcycle accidents in Ventura County alone, according to the California Highway Patrol’s motorcycle accident statistics.
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