West Deptford, NJ — A semi-truck crashed into the back of a fuel delivery truck along I-295 in West Deptford last weekend, injuring the fuel truck driver. His name wasn’t released, but police said the fuel truck driver was taken to a hospital in Camden as a result of the accident.
This happened at about 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, February 28, 2015. Apparently, a fuel truck was headed north along I-295 near exit 20 that morning when the driver noticed something wrong with the truck.
As he pulled over and checked under the hood, a northbound semi-truck swerved and crashed into the back of the fuel truck, injuring the driver who was still under the hood, looking at the engine.
The accident trapped the fuel truck driver and he had to be free via the help of emergency workers. He was taken to a hospital in Camden, but his condition wasn’t ever released.
More details will hopefully be gathered later.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
Was this fuel truck broken down in the middle of the road or on the shoulder of the interstate that morning? It’s one thing to block traffic and have someone rear-end you as a result, but if this fuel truck was parked on the shoulder when it was hit — that’s a different story.
Let’s talk about this from a legal perspective for a moment. Since the victim here was presumably “on the job” at the time, this would be considered a work-related accident. Any workers’ comp benefits that the employer subscribed to would be available for the driver, obviously. But, most people forget that truck drivers have rights too, and if the semi-truck was at fault for hitting the fuel truck, then the injured party would have a third party claim against that driver, and potentially the company he worked for. That’s just the way car accident law works. Now, whether that kind of information is made readily available to accident victims, I’m not so sure, which is why I put it out here on my blog. Most employers won’t think to tell you that you have another accident claim to file because as far as they’re concerned, workers’ comp benefits is the limit of their interests. In short, few employers are going to go out of their way to make sure an injured worker takes advantage of every opportunity available to them.
— Grossman Law Offices