Southside, West Virginia — A school bus in rural West Virginia was rear-ended by a semi-truck earlier this morning (Tuesday, August 26, 2014) and 9 of its students on board were injured. Police are saying that a semi-truck failed to stop in time on U.S. 35 in the Southside area and crashed into the back of another semi-truck, which then struck a stopped school bus.
The accident happened at about 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, near Cornstalk Road. A school bus was carrying about 15 students that morning and was making a routine stop along U.S. 35 when the accident happened.
There were two semi-trucks on U.S. 35 behind the school bus. Police said that the first one was able to stop in time, but not the second.
The second semi-truck crashed into the first truck, pushing it into the back of the school bus. Of the 15 students on board, 9 were taken to hospitals with injuries. Police didn’t give a lot of details about the students, but said they were not in life-threatening condition.
The truck driver who failed to stop was identified as 28-year old Benjamin Marshal and he has been charged by local police.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
It looks like the second truck driver, the 28-year old, was really at fault here for not slowing down in time. In legal terms, we call that failure to control speed. Now, it would be easy to assume that the trucking company who hired this driver will step up to the plate and make sure all the victims are taken care of. After all, that’s the right thing to do when you or someone for whom you’re responsible causes an accident.
However, trucking companies don’t exactly jump at the chance to take responsibility for their drivers. A lot of times, they’d rather put forth some excuse as to why they shouldn’t have to abide by their legal responsibility and instead blame the wreck on their driver. The benefit for them? They (the trucking company) don’t have to pay any money out and their insurance carrier can breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, it’s the victims in these accidents that truly get the worst end of the deal. If a trucking company ever offers a settlement or some other form of compensation soon after an accident, you can almost always be sure it’s a form of a “lowball” offer to make the entire thing go away. If a trucking company can pay pennies on the dollar for their driver’s actions and avoid a lawsuit or insurance claim, they will.
— Grossman Law Offices
