A garbage truck accident can produce severe or fatal injuries for pedestrians, drivers, and others in the vicinity. Getting hit or otherwise hurt by a garbage collection vehicle is no joke – like any other accident this can lead to serious long-term consequences that reduce your quality of life.
At Coluccio Law, our legal experts help ensure that garbage truck accident victims get the compensation they deserve. If you or a loved one have been hurt in an accident involving a garbage truck, get in touch with us today and our team will be glad to help.
Risks Involved with Garbage Truck Accidents
Garbage trucks are large vehicles that can sometimes make sudden robotic movements. Not only this, but these vehicles are often coated in a thick layer of grime that carries a huge amount of germs and bacteria, which can cause serious infections and other complications.
Other risks that garbage truck accident victims are exposed to include:
Severe Injury
Garbage truck crashes can result in severe personal injuries for everyone involved. Whether the impact occurs while the garbage truck is moving or stationary, high-speed collisions can result in broken bones, open wounds, and even death.
Private and Public Property Damage
Because of their size and awkward shape, garbage trucks also have the potential to cause a significant amount of public and private property damage. If you have been involved in a collision that resulted in property damage or personal injury, contact our garbage truck accident lawyer to get help today.
Most Common Causes of Garbage Truck Accidents
A garbage truck crash can occur for a wide range of reasons, but it’s important to understand that some of these causes may represent a pattern. Let’s take a closer look at some of the issues that commonly cause garbage truck accidents.
Driver-Related Causes
In some cases, garbage truck accidents occur because of negligence on the driver’s side. Common examples of this include:
- Fatigue
- Distraction
- Lack of training
Technical Faults
Likewise, there are many times when a fatal garbage truck accident is directly due to technical faults like:
- Poor maintenance
- Mechanical failure
- Design flaws
Environmental Factors
Lasty, garbage truck crashes can occur due to environmental factors such as:
- Rain or snow
- Oil and garbage spills
- Faulty roads
As your garbage truck accident attorney, Coluccio Law will work restlessly to get to the bottom of the garbage truck accident. To learn more about working with our legal team, get in touch with us today.
Victims of Garbage Truck Accidents
Garbage truck accidents have skyrocketed by as much as 25% over the last few years. If you have been involved in a garbage truck accident you’re not the only one – and you certainly don’t have to handle this unfortunate situation on your own.
Pedestrians
Pedestrians and cyclists are often in blind spots wearing minimal or no protection, so they are among the most common victims in this type of accident.
Motorists
Depending on the type of accident, other drivers and motorists can also be victimized in a garbage truck crash. This is especially true in a collision that occurs while the truck is moving, rather than stationary.
Sanitation Professionals
Sanitation professionals are not immune to garbage truck accidents. If this is your case, it’s important to seek your own legal advice to ensure that your attorney protects your best interests above everyone else’s.
What to Do After a Garbage Truck Accident
Garbage truck accidents can produce serious or even fatal injuries.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a crash, collision, or other type of accident involving a garbage truck, there are a few basic actions you need to take to ensure your safety and start building a winning case.
Here are the steps you should take.
- Get Medical Assistance: Your first course of action after getting involved in a garbage truck accident should be to find medical assistance. Going to the hospital is an option if your movement is not impaired, but don’t be afraid to phone an ambulance if you feel the injuries warrant it.
- Collect Information: If possible, you should collect the information of the truck driver, and from any additional employees as well as by-standers that can serve as witnesses.
- File the Appropriate Reports: Next, you should file the appropriate reports. The most basic reports you need to file are a police report and request a medical report detailing your injuries.
- Notify Your Insurance: Now it’s time to get in touch with your insurance provider and let them know the situation. Pay close attention as they may also give you further instructions to follow.
- Call Your Attorney: Last but certainly not least, you should phone your attorney and report the issue to your legal representative. Our attorneys will start collecting information right away, even visiting the accident scene right away in order to collect fresh evidence.
Who is Liable For a Garbage Truck Accident
Every accident is unique, so the only way to determine who is truly liable for a garbage truck incident is to analyze the case.
It’s possible for operators, manufacturers, employers, and even pedestrian negligence to all bear part of the responsibility, but the most important element is for the victims to get fair compensation for their pain and suffering.
If you’ve been involved in a garbage truck accident and feel like you deserve compensation, contact Coluccio Law today. Our attorneys will take the time to listen to your case, understand the different variables, and provide the best legal advice for your specific situation.
To Wrap Up
Garbage truck accidents can vary in severity and occur for a wide range of reasons. Whether you have been injured by a garbage truck that’s loading or hit while it’s being driven, your first step should be to seek medical attention.
Once you’re safe and getting the attention you need, your next step should be to seek legal counsel and start building a case to get fairly compensated.
Case Study:
There has been an “unprecedented uptick in fatalities” associated with recycling and garbage truck accidents crashes in 2019, according to the Solid Waste Association of North America.
That’s alarming, even as a preliminary number, because garbage trucks are already among the most dangerous heavy trucks.
- They are often out very early in the morning, when the streets are still dark.
- Trucks stop and start frequently.
- Drivers stop in the middle of the road to save time, instead of pulling over.
FMCSA’s data for 2017 shows 107 garbage/refuse trucks fatalities, and another 1400+ injuries in garbage truck crashes. About 25% of the people killed or seriously hurt are sanitation workers.
OSHA shows 25 fatalities or serious injuries for employees in Garbage Truck Accidents in 2017.
Last year, an investigative journalist looked into a private waste collection company in New York. They had installed cameras in their trucks, and filmed their own drivers falling asleep at the wheel.
Yet, they continued to work their crews 10-14 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Trashed: Inside the Deadly World of Private Garbage Collection
City and municipal waste management trucks seem to have a better safety record than private companies.
But due to the sheer size and shape of the vehicle, a collision with a trash/recycling truck is brutal. I have worked on a lot of truck crash cases, but there are a few I remember as particularly tragic.
One involved a recycling truck.
Two kids killed in a recycling truck crash
Two girls – a young teen and an infant – were killed when their mom’s vehicle hit a recycling truck that had parked on a rural road in Washington State.
The trucking company claimed that statutory provisions allowed for the truck to be stopped in the roadway for recycling pick-up.
We argued that the truck driver had the clear opportunity to pull onto the side of the road, but chose not to in order to avoid the extra effort that would have been required.
We also asserted a claim for the failure to have proper under-guard protection. While we were able to settle that case for $2,700,000.00, it was devastating for everyone involved.
We know these heavy trucks are necessary.
It is my hope that cities and private companies will do as much as they can to make them safe for workers – and for the rest of us.
Attorney Kevin Coluccio represents people injured and the families of those killed in crashes with commercial motor vehicles and garbage truck crashes – which, he is quick to point out, are not all “truck accidents.”
3 Responses
If the truck was set up with strobes and hazard lights then in most states its considered a moving work zone and in this case the truck is more than far enough over for other vehicles to safely pass as they would by law slowing to 15mph after being sure its safe to go around. There never should have been any amount paid to the people in the car or their family IF the above mentioned was correct done or working. I’d almost bet the driver of the car was speeding and/or on a cell phone if not texting. I see it 5 days a week because I drive a recycle truck myself for the city. Myself and others WERE blocking the whole road on 2 lane roads to keep this very thing from happening and to also protect ourselves and other drivers from hitting head on until a lady “or friend of the mayor ” was late for a nail or hair appointment and we now can’t block any traffic or say anything to anyone driving EVEN IF we are struck by said driver. I understand people need to get around but we have a job to do also and at least most of us want everyone to be safe and get there in one piece. Think the next time you get behind someone like a recycle driver and before you get mad imagine that he’s your father, son brother etc. He is to someone else. Thank you
F+&% the city and the f+&%ing garbage Trucks. Crashing and killing people. Dirt Bags and they don’t PAY
Where I live they drive very aggresively, not checking the surroundings before moving. A tragedy is waiting to happen. We live in a townhouse. They park it 4 feet from my driveway. If one of my little ones runs to it to see this, magical truck as they think, they stand no chance. All those drivers included the one commented above needs slow down, notnin terms of speed but in terms of urgency. Everyone should respect human life more than they respect their work when urgency rewards them at the expense of safety. I just called our local waste management company (Patriot Waste Management in Loudoun County in Virginia) to ask them to talk to their drivers about their lack of sense of safety, especially in the context of spacial awareness. The person I spoke to went on defense instead of understanding. She said the driver was only going 8mph by their gps tracking. Well, the danger is not the speed, at least in my case. They can kill someone at 1mph if they are not watching. I hope I will not have to dig in to find this paragraph one day to be used in a “I tried to warn you but you did not listen” situation.