While car accidents are a day-to-day occurrence in Billings, Montana, minor fender-benders pale in comparison to the destruction caused by a truck accident. Unfortunately, as the 2013 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals, truck accidents have the potential to cause thousands of fatalities each year. According to the NHTSA, in 2013 nearly 4,000 individuals died in…Read More
Truck driver fatigue is a serious danger on Montana roads. When over-the-road truckers drive too long without rest, their alertness and reaction times are adversely affected. In a worst-case scenario, a trucker can fall asleep at the wheel. When a large semi truck is involved in a collision with a smaller vehicle, the occupants of the smaller vehicle can be…Read More
Large 18-wheel trucks are a common sight on Montana highways. But when a passenger car is involved in a collision with a semi truck, the results are often tragic for the occupants of the car. Because of their size and weight, large trucks can demolish a smaller vehicle when they hit it, resulting in injury or death to those inside.…Read More
The trucking industry is important to Montana farmers, ranchers and businesses. But some argue the trucking industry puts profits over safety. In 2012, big trucks were involved in 333,000 crashes, according to data from the National Transportation Safety Board. Those accidents resulted in 3,921 deaths and injured over 104,000 people. Recently truck driver fatigue, one of the most critical safety…Read More
The Montana Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate an accident in which a 23-year-old Busby, Montana woman was struck and killed by a vehicle as she walked along U.S. Highway 212 recently. The woman was walking with two men at the time of the accident, and they have said they believe she was struck by a semi truck. Unfortunately the…Read More
A collision between a passenger car and a semi truck can have dire results for the occupants of the car. A tractor trailer can crush the average automobile in a wreck. In addition, when a semi truck is involved in an accident, the forces involved are so great that the initial collision often triggers a chain reaction involving other vehicles.…Read More
It may surprise some to learn that Montana is the third worst state in the union in terms of truck crash fatalities. The top two are North Dakota and Wyoming. Nationally, over 4,000 people die every year in accidents involving heavy semi trucks. Recently a group of truck accident victims went to Washington, D.C. to push for stronger federal truck…Read More
Some previous posts on this blog have focused on workers injured in the oil fields that have sprung up in Montana and other states in connection with the Bakken Shale oil boom. But the boom has had another unfortunate side effect: the number of truck accident victims in the Bakken region is also on the rise. One North Dakota woman’s…Read More
Heavy trucks present special risks on Montana highways. But the load carried by one semi involved in a mid-November truck accident on U.S. Highway 2 between Hinsdale and Saco presented a danger that was way beyond the usual. The truck was carrying 36,000 pounds of bombs – military ordnance bound for the Minot, N.D. Air Force base. The accident took…Read More
Truckers driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are a deadly menace on Montana roads and throughout the nation. Late in June, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which enforces federal trucking regulations, announced it had taken 287 commercial truck and bus drivers off the road in its annual enforcement sweep, conducted in April and May of this year.…Read More