The Rhode Island State Police reported Feb. 12 that a tractor trailer hit and killed a pedestrian who was walking on the side of the road on Route 146 southbound in North Smithfield, Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island State Police responded to the scene and found that the 40 year old victim had been struck on the shoulder near the Greenville Road on ramp.

The truck and pedestrian accident is being investigated by the state police at this time.

Our View

Government statistics state that 4884 pedestrians were killed in accidents with cars and trucks in 2014. The data suggests that pedestrians are over represented in annual crash statistics; they account for 14% of all traffic deaths but are only 11% of all trips.

The NHTSA also reports that a pedestrian is killed by a motor vehicle every two hours in the US. 

It is particuarly of concern to our tractor trailer personal injury attorneys when big rigs strike and kill or injure pedestrians who are walking on the shoulder of a road or highway.

Tractor trailer drivers have been trained to drive carefully because they are driving a commercial vehicle that is very large and difficult to stop. Tractor trailer drivers should know that they need to slow down and move over when there is a person or vehicle on the shoulder of the road.

As personal injury attorneys in Virginia, we have handled tragic truck accident cases where a pedestrian or driver was hit and killed on a highway shoulder.

We had a wrongful death lawsuit case recently where a truck driver pulled over on I-95 in Virginia to inspect his truck. Another truck came along, failed to move over or slow down, and killed him instantly. His widow hired our wrongful death attorneys to represent her in the lawsuit.

Tractor trailer crashes are usually complex matters, and this one was no exception. The driver of the truck who caused the tragedy himself died after the accident, and our attorneys had to prove that he had suffered from an untreated medical condition that he knew about. The medical condition had led to him losing control of the vehicle and sideswiping and killing our client.

The defendant’s attorneys argued that our client had contributed to his own death by being on the shoulder of the highway. We were able to show by hiring a trucking liability and safety expert that the negligence of the defendant had led to our client’s death. This wrongful death truck accident lawsuit resulted in a $2.25 million settlement. 

If you have a loved one who was a pedestrian and is killed by a passing tractor trailer, you may have legal remedies by filing a wrongful death lawsuit.