Brentwood, NY — A woman from Newton, 29-year old Kathleen Tuscano, was injured in Brentwood after her car was rear-ended by a box truck. This happened along Route 125 and police think that the box truck driver, 44-year old William Newman, may have failed to brake.
The news said that Tuscano was driving her Nissan SUV north along Route 125 at about 8:15 a.m. last Friday morning (March 6, 2015) when she slowed down near Crawley Falls Road — possibly to make a left turn. As she did so, she was hit from behind by Newman’s box truck.
Her Nissan sustained major damage and Tuscano was taken to a hospital via helicopter. Her condition wasn’t immediately updated, but police said that she was in good condition as of Monday.
The truck driver, William Newman, may face charges later, but the investigation is still ongoing.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
If the news reports here are even remotely accurate, then it seems like this box truck driver would be considered at fault for the accident. What are the implications of that, legally speaking? Well, I always tell people that accidents with commercial trucks are quite different than accidents with regular cars — if not for the simple fact that semi-trucks and box truck are usually owned by larger companies, not regular people. As such, they have investments and resources to protect, so they always try to defend themselves when a driver is accused of causing an accident.
To them, it’s simple business sense. To everyone else, though, it means working a lot harder to prove the truck driver was at fault in their accident. See, a potential case against a trucking company has no value until you can prove it. It’s not enough that it’s “obvious” the truck driver caused the accident (in this case, seemingly rear-ending an innocent driver), because there’s always a way to argue that the trucker wasn’t completely at fault. They might argue that his brakes were working or that the victim slammed on her brakes, for example.
The best tactic is to get started early on an investigation that gathers all the information needed to hold the trucking company accountable. I don’t know if there’s a case here, mind you, because all I can see are the preliminary news reports. However, if the truck driver really was negligent here, it’ll take a lot more than eyewitness accounts and a police report to make the trucking company see things that way.
— Grossman Law Offices
