New Knoxville, OH — Three people were sent to the hospital following an accident between a milk hauling truck and a garbage truck in New Knoxville, Ohio, on Wednesday, September 17, 2014. The accident took place on Route 29, around 7:15 in the morning.
Mark Granger had parked his garbage truck on the side of the road, and as he was walking from the back of his truck around to the cab, it was struck on the rear left side by a passing milk hauler being driven by Nicholas Lore. The crash sent the milk truck off the left side of the road and spun the garbage truck around, striking Granger.
Members of the New Knoxville Fire Department, Auglaize County Sheriff, New Knoxville EMS, St. Mary’s EMS, and local as well as Wapakoneta highway patrol responded to the accident.
Granger was taken to St. Rita’s Medical Center. Lore, as well as Tracy Harner, as passenger in the milk truck, were taken to Joint Township District Memorial Hospital.
All three suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police ticketed Lore for failing to maintain safe distance.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Who’s at fault seems pretty obvious here. The driver of the milk truck was ticketed, and in many cases, that’s a pretty good barometer. Yes, one could make the argument that perhaps the driver of the garbage truck was out a little closer to the road than he should have been, but the driver of the milk truck still has a responsibility to watch the road of ahead of him, and to avoid crashing into other trucks whenever possible.
Let’s look at how the law would handle this. The owners of the milk truck, whoever they may be, are most likely going to have a workers’ comp policy — that is, an insurance policy — that will cover their driver’s injuries and any lost wages following the accident. As the milk truck seems to be responsible for the accident, they’re also going to be liable for the other driver’s injuries. Hopefully, they’ll be able to step up and makes things right.
— Grossman Law Offices