Month: February 2015

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Eric Payton, Sherrard McKnight Injured by Semi-Truck Accident on I-29 in Council Bluffs

Council Bluffs, IA — A semi-truck rear-ended another one on I-29 this past Wednesday in Council Bluffs, leaving two people injured. Police said that Eric Payton, 45, and his passenger, Sherrard McKnight, 50, were both injured after their semi-truck was rear-ended by Randall Baumfalk’s semi-truck on I-29. Read Full Post ‹ Eric Payton, Sherrard McKnight Injured by Semi-Truck Accident on I-29 in Council Bluffs

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Driver Injured by Concrete Truck Rollover Accident in Austin, TX on Highway 71

Photo Credit: www.kxan.com
Photo Credit: www.kxan.com

Austin, TX — There was an accident reported earlier on Wednesday morning (February 25, 2015) after a concrete truck rolled over on Highway 71, in the Spicewood area. Police said that the driver of the concrete truck was injured, but not seriously.

This happened near Serene Hills Driver on the north side of Highway 71. A concrete truck was apparently trying to turn into the neighborhood area that morning when his truck lost control and tipped over onto the sign out front.

The accident trapped the driver inside the cab of the truck and he had to be extracted by rescue workers. He was then taken to a hospital, but his injuries weren’t believed to be serious. The man’s name wasn’t released, but he was believed to be in his 30’s.

Map of the Accident

View from the Road

Commentary:

We get a lot of questions from workers who were injured on the job and lost income/had medical bills as a result, so I’ll try to explain a little bit of the law here to hopefully answer those questions. Employers in Texas have the option of subscribing to workers’ comp benefits or not. If they do, that’s your sole option as an employee in Texas: taking the workers’ comp benefits that you qualify for. However, if an employer is a “non-subscriber,” that means that there are no workers’ comp benefits available for you. On the upside, though, employer who don’t subscribe to workers’ comp can be named in a negligence-based lawsuit, which isn’t normally allowed by law when they are subscribers. With the exception of accidents where employers are extremely negligent, workers’ comp benefits acts a bit like a bulletproof vest for your employer in terms of being liable.

I don’t know what caused this truck to overturn, so I can’t speak too specifically to this accident. However, if the driver hadn’t been given training to operate the truck or didn’t have their CDL, the employer might be considered negligent. Again, you have to know whether your employer subscribes to workers’ comp benefits, as described above, and then run everything through that filter.

 
— Grossman Law Offices