Truck knocks car off the road

Three occupants of a car had to be cut out of their vehicle after it was hit by a semi which was changing lanes.  The impact from the collision knocked the car off the road and down an embankment.  At least one occupant of the car was at least partially ejected from the vehicle and was in critical condition.

A few points came to mind from a legal perspective after reading about this trucking accident:

1.  The responsibility for this accident lies squarely on the truck driver.  Truck drivers are trained to check before moving into another lane.  This includes being aware of their "blind spots" where they cannot see another car.  They need to make sure that the blind spots are clear before starting to change lanes.  Saying "I never saw them" is simply not acceptable.

2.  The fact that there was some indication that one of the passengers of the car was partially ejected raises a question in my mind as to whether there may be a reasonable basis for looking into a automotive product liability case against the manufacturer of the vehicle.  Cars should be designed and manufactured to keep passengers inside the vehicle in the event of an accident, even a roll-over accident.  The starting point for any product liability case is to preserve the remains of the vehicle.

Each of these kinds of cases are highly complex and require a great deal of up-front investigation to determine what happened.  These are also cases which will be staunchly defended by deep-pocketed corporations and their insurers which will have a great deal of resources to bring to bear on the case.  Anyone contemplating a suit like this should retain an experienced personal injury lawyer to assist them with the case.