An 18 year-old Arcadia University student was killed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Monday afternoon which closed the road for 12 hours.

The deadly truck accident happened on I-76E near Trevose Road. The young driver from Moorestown NJ was in the left lane near mile marker 350 when her Toyota was contacted by the tractor trailer in the right hand lane, according to the state police.

The vehicles became entangled and went off the road and went up an embankment, where the trailer rolled over onto the car. The big rig was carrying approximately 20,000 pounds of liquid detergent or soap.

According to the police, the truck was from Maryland-based Cowan Systems. That company, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has been involved in a number of accidents in the last two years where 42 people were hurt and one died. Some of the citations of the company’s drivers included speeding, using a cell phone and brake violations.

Our wrongful death truck accident attorneys in Virginia are truly saddened that this accident happened. Truck accidents involving possibly negligent big rig drivers happen far too often. We often work on fatal truck accident cases where truck drivers either speed or are distracted by their cell phone while driving.

Another major problem is driver fatigue, which leads to 40% of all truck accidents, according to federal statistics. When a family loses a loved one to a truck accident, there are legal remedies available, such as filing a wrongful death lawsuit, which can lead to a multi million dollar settlement in some cases.