Semi-Truck Crashes into Traffic on I-80, Badly Injures Trevor Stotka & Others

West Sacramento, CA — Earlier this week, on I-80, there was a major pileup up wreck that involved a semi-truck and four other passenger vehicles. One man, Walnut Creek resident Trevor Stotka, was badly injured and had to be rushed to a hospital. The accident happened around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday (July 21, 2015) a gas tanker truck driven by 48-year old Darrin Demello was headed along I-80 when he came upon slowed traffic near Reed Avenue. Demello apparently failed to stop in time and crashed into the back of stopped traffic, hitting Mr. Stotka’s Ford F-15o pickup truck first.

The gas truck pushed Stotka’s pickup out of the way, then crashed into a Honda Civic, wedging it underneath the front of the rig. The Honda was then forced into a Chevy Cruze, which sent debris flying into a Chevy pickup truck nearby.

Of all those injured in the accident, Trevor Stotka in the Ford F-150 was the most seriously harmed. He was rushed to a hospital along with the others. The drivers involved in this accident were:

• Trevor Stotka, 24, Walnut Creek (Ford F-150)
• Leanne Cameron, 30, Granite Bay (Honda Civic) – minor injuries
• Sean Raycraft, 31, Davis (Chevy Cruz)
• Mark Walker, 60, Sacramento (Chevy Silverado) – minor injuries
• Darrin Demello, 48, Sacramento (gas tanker truck)

Police with the CHP said that Mr. Demello was driving about 45 mph that evening when he hit stopped traffic. They aren’t sure why he failed to brake, but said that he may be facing charges later on.

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Commentary:

It’s a wonder that this accident wasn’t more serious and it’s fortunate that the gas tanker wasn’t fully loaded (as one news source said) because a heavier load at 45 mph might’ve killed someone. I think we should back up here a bit and start asking some questions about why this accident happened. I’m sure this trucker will be cited by the CHP and even punished by his company, but what caused this wreck in the first place? How do we prevent it from happening again?

Since I’ve had quite a bit of experience litigating trucking accident cases, let me offer my two cents. Hurriedness is one of the trucking industry’s greatest downfalls. Everyone needs their product and they need it now; supply and demand isn’t a new concept, but the trucking industry works very hard to keep up with it.

As such a lot of trucking companies – the bad ones, anyway – end up pushing their drivers too hard, making them work too many hours, and sometimes even hiring drivers who shouldn’t be behind the wheel in the first place. The more trucks are on the road, the more loads are being delivered — and that means profit for the trucking company.

We don’t know a lot about what caused this accident, true, but I’m willing to be that there are some things that the police just aren’t able to see. For instance, how many hours had this trucker been on the road since his last stop? Was he fatigued? What about distractions behind the wheel, like cellphones? It’s against federal law for truckers to be on their cellphones while driving, so was that something where his company enforced the rule, or looked the other way?

The police investigation here is going to be helpful, but if we want to really understand what happened, it will likely take more specialized detective work. To me, it’s a worthwhile endeavor because once you find out what happened, you can prevent the same thing from happening to other folks. Citations and tickets don’t do much good if nothing ever changes.

 
— Grossman Law Offices