A pedestrian in Rehoboth, Delaware was hit by a tractor trailer on Feb. 17 and is in serious condition at a local hospital.

Police reported that a 32 year old man from Lewes, Delaware was walking on the shoulder of Route 1 north of Shuttle Road and was hit by a passing truck. 

The man was treated at the scene and stabilized and was transported immediately to the hospital.

Our View

Government statistics report that 4884 pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in 2014, and 726 bicyclists were killed as well. Also, 3852 people died in tractor trailer crashes in 2015. 

Many of these accidents could be prevented if the truck or car driver was driving in a safer manner. Tractor trailer drivers have an even higher obligation to drive in a safe manner because they hold a commercial driver’s license.

When a truck driver drives in a negligent manner and causes the death or injury of another person, a possible legal remedy is to file a wrongful death lawsuit or personal injury lawsuit. As experienced wrongful death and personal injury attorneys in Virginia and North Carolina, we know the emotional and financial devastation that truck accidents can cause.

One of our wrongful death attorneys worked on car accident case where our mechanic client worked for a company and was on the side of the road in his work truck after it was disabled. He was inspecting what was wrong with his truck when a passing car struck and killed him.

Our legal team showed that our client had turned on his flashers and there was red/white reflective tape on the rear of the rig. He was trying to repair his hydraulic brakes when he was hit by the passing car at 45 MPH.

This was a very tragic case because our client had a wife of 18 years as well as a daughter in her early 20s. The driver of the car pled guilty for failing to reduce speed to avoid a collision.

However, his defense attorney argued that our client caused the crash. The issue was that the the truck was disabled in the right lane of the road. We had to prove that our client could not move it off the road in the middle of the night.

We brought in a truck inspection and repair expert to study the, truck, which had been moved to a storage facility. He discovered that all of the hydraulic fluid had drained from the brake system. He showed that when this happens, the parking brakes lock and the driver cannot move the vehicle until it is repaired.

We were able to settle this wrongful death truck crash case for $1.25 million.