A somewhat novel idea in Minnesota is saving lives by keeping cars from crossing the median during accidents. A little over 15 miles of cable fencing has been strung up on highways around the Twin Cities area this year. The state has been installing the cable fencing since 2004, and covers a total of 116 miles of highway and road medians. Minnesota plans to add another 50 miles next year.

The role of the cable fencing is simple: When a vehicle loses control and leaves the highway, the 42-inch-tall fencing keeps the vehicle from crossing the median or flying off the highway. It slows a vehicle enough so that the driver can walk away. The fencing is strung along steel posts that are designed to snap off at the base and slide into a sleeve. They are easily replaced after an accident, and highway workers replace them as quickly as possible.

The cables are safer than concrete medians that can total vehicles and injure the passengers. One pickup truck driver who hit a patch of black ice at 50 miles per hour says that when she hit the cable it bounced her back onto the highway. She was able to stop and pull over. While the truck was damaged, it was minor compared to what a concrete median would have done.

The sections of highway where the fencing is placed have seen fatalities caused by vehicle accidents drop nearly to zero.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

A truck driver "distracted" by his cellphone lost control of his rig and ran off the road north of Denver, Colorado this past Wednesday. The semi-truck was hauling a double-trailer with the rear trailer empty and the lead trailer carrying assorted items including low-level radiation medical supplies.

While the 42-year-old driver was not injured, the accident wrapped the rig around a sign pole on I-76 and spilled the hauled load all over the highway. Debris from the accident hit an SUV another semi-truck and a sedan. The accident occurred during the rush hour commute and closed the highway down to two lanes for hours.

Because of the medical supplies, the Colorado State Patrol called in the haz-mat team.

While the accident is still under investigation, authorities say it could have been a lot worse. No one was killed, but it once again adds to the evidence that cellphones and driving are not a good combination.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, please contact an experienced truck accident attorney in your area.

According to a report detailed by National Public Radio, the number one cause of accidental death of children worldwide is traffic accidents. While almost one million children are killed every year in various kinds of accidents, traffic accidents kill almost 830,000. According to Dr. Etienne Krug, director of the Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention at the World Health Organization, "It is like wiping out the entire child and adolescent population of Chicago every year."

These fatalities are mostly found in developing countries, especially in Africa, where road traffic education is still in its infancy. A new road being built in a village may be a good thing for the community as a whole, but the villagers may not understand the dangers that come with motorized traffic on that road. In Asia, Dr. Krug notes the main danger is two-wheeled traffic, such as motorcycles. He says it is not uncommon to see as many as four or five people on one motorcycle. When there is an accident, there are often severe injuries or fatalities.

Even in the US where injury and death is reduced by safety features like seatbelts, child car seats and helmets, traffic accidents remain the main cause of adolescent fatalities.

The CDC and WHO recommend that adolescent injury prevention should be included with child health and child survival programs already in place.

Other leading causes of death for children include drowning, burns, falls, and poisoning.

If your child has been seriously injured or killed as the result of a traffic accident, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

A truck carrying nearly 400 hogs crashed in Miami County, Ohio on Thursday killing nearly 100 of them. Dozens more are reportedly on the loose. Police state that the driver was going too fast around a curve when his load of hogs shifted. The uneven load of hogs caused the tractor-trailer to roll onto its side. The truck then slid down an embankment where it was stopped by a cluster of trees.

The 23-year-old driver was not injured, but his younger brother was taken to the hospital with a knee injury. Salvage crews spent hours off-loading the hogs and cleaning up the wreckage. There is no word on the ones who bolted for freedom.

Shifting loads in tractor-trailers is a danger not only to the truck drivers, but to those around them. If you have been injured in a truck accident caused by a shifting load, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

Say goodbye to summer. Freezing rain is being blamed on several accidents around the La Crosse, Wisconsin area on Monday and Tuesday. The first accident involved a semi that lost control on a bridge, hit two cars then rolled onto its side. The truck driver was uninjured and one of the drivers of the automobiles had minor injuries. Another accident involving a semi and a pickup truck partially blocked the I-90.

There were between 25 and 30 accidents reported in the La Crosse area on Tuesday morning alone, and La Crosse County Dispatch Center officials said they received another hundred calls reporting accidents and icy road conditions.

It seems to take everyone a little while to get used to driving in conditions involving ice or snow. The best thing you can do is slow down and be aware of other vehicles around you, and be prepared for driving in conditions like this for the next several months. Still, sometimes accidents are unavoidable.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an auto accident or truck accident due to another party's reckless driving in icy conditions, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

A car entering southbound I-880 in Oakland, California, cut off a tanker truck and caused the driver to lose control at about 6:15 am this morning. The tanker, carrying hundreds of gallons of fuel, rolled over and began leaking fuel, which then ignited. Police report the driver and three others in another vehicle were able to escape without injuries.

The tanker was fully involved before firefighters were able to put the flames out. The fire became so intense that asphalt on the highway began to melt. As a result, the southbound lanes of I-880 will be closed until sometime Thursday. Although only the surface of the highway was damaged, construction crews will grind down the concrete and add temporary asphalt.

The tanker was carrying an estimated 8,600 gallons of fuel when the accident occurred. The Coast Guard is investigating whether any of the fuel spilled into the Oakland-Alameda Estuary. Storm drains near the accident were sealed off as a precaution.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

A state van carrying applicants for prison jobs collided with a tractor trailer carrying wood products this morning on a rural highway near Montgomery, Alabama. All seven people in the van were killed in the fiery head-on collision. The driver of the tractor-trailer was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The accident occurred on an isolated stretch of the highway just before 6 am about 20 miles from Montgomery. Authorities are still trying to determine the cause since early reports are varied. The charred van was overturned and beneath debris from the truck. Police say the only identifiable parts of the van were two tire rims.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, please contact an experienced truck accident attorney in your area.

A bus driver and eight students were injured, when a semi slammed into their school bus in Citra, Florida on Tuesday. A 13-year-old student was killed.

The driver of the semi admitted to police that he had been talking on his cell phone when he hit the bus while it was stopped to let students off. The bus had its lights and stop signs out when it was hit. Police say there were no skid marks, indicating the driver did not try to stop the semi before the accident. The bus burst into flames and continued to roll forward.

The school bus had 21 students on it when the accident occurred. Several eye witnesses to the accident rushed to help the students off the bus while it was burning.

The truck was hauling home improvement goods when it hit the bus. The driver owns the trucking company, is the only driver, and has not had any accidents for the last two years. Investigators say it will take up to 45 days to complete the full investigation. Police say charges are pending against the 30-year-old truck driver.

If you have been injured or lost a loved one in a truck accident, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

A United Parcel Service big rig plunged 30 feet from a downtown Oakland, California overpass and hit the road below early Thursday morning. The driver was injured, and reportedly lucky to be alive.

The accident is blamed on the 51-year-old driver of a car speeding and then making an unsafe lane change. The vehicle swerved into the UPS truck, causing the UPS driver to lose control. The truck hit the guardrail and flew 50 feet through the air before landing on the roadway below. Landing between two trees probably saved the life of the driver, according to rescue workers.

The driver was taken to the hospital and is in unknown condition. The driver of the other vehicle was arrested for driving under the influence.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile or truck accident, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

An SUV carrying six people crashed with a septic tank truck before both vehicles plunged into the Delta-Mendota Canal outside Westley, California on Tuesday. Five people are confirmed dead, and two are presumed to have died, though their bodies haven't been found. Police believe the missing bodies may have floated down the canal, have called off the search, and are waiting for them to float up.

According to witnesses, the SUV, carrying migrant workers, failed to stop at a stop sign and the septic truck was speeding. Both vehicles then smashed through a guardrail and plunged into the 20-foot deep canal.

Families of the deceased believe the police took too long to try to save those involved in the accident. However, police say it took 45 minutes for the dive team to get to the accident scene and the canal is known for its depth and the speed of the water, and any mistake could have ended in death for the dive team members.

According to Francis Mizuno of the San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority, there is an average of one accident a year at the canal.

If you have been injured or lost a loved one in an accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

Twenty-one-year old Teresa Gonzalez has been awarded $5.64 million in a personal injury lawsuit stemming from an accident that occurred in 2001 in California. Teresa was only 15 when the family van she was riding in was hit by a commercial truck. The Dresick Farms truck allegedly ran a stop sign, hit the Gonzalez family van, which rolled several times. Teresa was literally struck in the face by the impact.

As a result of the accident, Teresa has endured over 20 facial surgeries to repair the damage done. She suffered several fractures to her skull and face, as well as a mild traumatic brain injury. Dresick Farms fought liability, but admitted responsibility shortly before the case was to go to trial. The trial lasted one month and was held solely to determine the amount Teresa was to receive.

The $5.62 million is thought to be the largest personal injury verdict in the history of Imperial County, California.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury in an accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

Another tool to help determine what exactly occurred during an accident has been developed. An event data recorder, often referred to as a black box, in a car or truck provides what engineer Jim Graham, senior engineer at Graham Ryan Consulting, says is, "an electronic fingerprint of what happened" during a crash. This creates "an unbiased source of data" which can be used in court or by insurance agencies to determine who was at fault, or how the accident transpired.

Technology like this is especially useful for forensic engineers when trying to piece together why a pickup truck rolls off a road (using something called an inclinometer), or who caused an accident when both drivers claim to have been stopped. The event data recorder can also be used in construction equipment, such as in cranes that collapse or heavy machinery that catches fire.

Imagine how much guess work can be eliminated during investigation and resulting lawsuits with technology. While this has yet to make it into every vehicle on the road, or every piece of construction equipment, using event data recorders can help victims of accidents by showing the truth, and eliminate any ambiguity.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced injury lawyer in your area.

Fung Wah is a bus line popular for low rates in New York City. It's also notorious for being accident prone. The latest accident involving Fung Wah occurred Monday morning. As passengers were waiting to board the bus to its Boston route, it was hit from behind by a dump truck which sent it flying into a bank, crushing 57-year-old Lai Ho who was waiting to board. The accident, which happened at the intersection of Canal Street and the Bowery, also injured four others. The dump truck allegedly lost control as it was exiting the Manhattan Bridge ramp.

Fung Wah was involved in an accident in 2006 when the Boston bound bus overturned, injuring 33 people. Another bus lost its rear wheels as it was en route to New York. Fung Wah has also been in trouble for hiring drivers who do not speak English.

The dump truck is part of the fleet at South Kearney, New Jersey-based CPQ Freight Systems, which has had two fatal accidents this year.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus or truck accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

The trailer on a semi truck carrying an 80-ton locomotive came unattached on Tuesday in Ohio, causing major damage to an overpass, and closing sections of I-74 and I-275. The Ohio Department of Transportation stated that repairs may take three months and forcing Indiana-to-Ohio commuters to find a detour due to the closure of State Route 1.

Witnesses state that when the trailer became unattached, it hit the pillars of the overpass. The locomotive then came off the trailer, hitting two more support columns. A support beam then fell on top of the locomotive.

No one was injured in the accident, but investigators are still looking into why the trailer came off the truck pulling it. The repairs are estimated between $500,000 to $600,000 by ODOT, and the wildly high number of $50 million estimated by an investigator looking into the accident.

We worry about semis shifting lanes and knocking us off roads, or high-speed losses of control. How often do we worry about semis pulling locomotives?

If you have been involved in an accident involving a semi, or perhaps a train, or both, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced injury lawyer in your area.

An elderly Canadian couple was killed over the weekend when the tailgate flew off a dump truck and hit the windshield of their SUV.

The dump truck was traveling south on Highway 400 near Aurora, Ontario when it lost control and hit the center median. Initial reports are that a tire on the dump truck may have blown. The couple's Chevrolet Avalanche was travelling north when the tailgate came off, hit their windshield and crushed them. The driver of the truck was not injured in the accident.

Investigators are looking into why the tailgate came off the dump truck. Witnesses and authorities see this as a bizarre accident, akin to being struck by lightning or crushed by a falling tree. OPP Constable Dave Woodford, who spoke with Canadian media, says he's never even heard of the tailgate coming off a dump truck in an accident.

While people tend to think of trucks involved in accidents only involving 18-wheelers, dump trucks and cement trucks have many of the same traits as semi trucks. They're big, heavy, and while drivers may not ship loads across North American highways, if a driver is fatigued, stressed, or otherwise negligent, the end result is that the smaller vehicle will always lose. In this case, a blown tire may have caused the accident which lead to the deaths, which may be due to a maintenance issue.

However, if you have been injured, or lost a loved one in an accident involving a large truck, please contact an experienced injury lawyer in your area.

Truck driver, Kenneth Middlebusher, has entered a not guilty plea to negligent driving in an accident that killed two men in Vermont. If convicted of the felony charge of "gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle resulting in a fatality," Middlebusher faces 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. He is only facing the one count because the law states he can only be charged once for the same act.

The accident that killed Jeffery Lamore, 29, and Thomas Peterson, 32, and seriously injured Paul Beebe, 53, was allegedly the result of Middlebusher's inexperience, speed, and an unsecured load on the notoriously dangerous Route 9 coming down from Woodford Mountain. Middlebusher claims he was traveling 40 mph, but witnesses put his speed at closer to 60 mph.

Middlebusher had only been employed by Heartland Express Inc., an Iowa-based company, for about a month, has only been driving commercial vehicles for 13 months, had never been on Route 9, and didn't gear down on the road because he "doesn't like to gear down." The unsecured load, which is a federal violation, in Middlebusher's truck was eight rolls of paper, which weighed about 8,000 pounds each. These things, along with his alleged speed, caused Middlebusher's truck to tip over going around a corner. The truck hit the pickup driven by Lamore and Peterson, and Beebe's Ford Escort wagon. Both vehicles were forced into the guard rail where the pickup burst into flames burning both occupants beyond recognition.

Route 9 is steep and winds down Woodford Mountain. It is posted with signs warning drivers of the steep grade. Middlebusher has told police he was aware of the signs and the grade, as well as that his load was unsecured when he left Brattleboro.

If you have been injured, or lost a loved one, due to the negligence of another driver, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an injury lawyer in your area.

An accident on Vail Pass near Vail, Colorado on Monday, killed one person and injured 22. As many as 75 cars were involved in the accident, the result of near whiteout conditions and probable speeding.

39-year-old Lance Melting had just left his home in Longmont hours earlier with his wife and four children. They were on their way to Disneyland when a tractor-trailer jackknifed and slid down the highway sideways. Melting's minivan hit the trailer, killing him instantly. His wife is in serious condition, and one of the children had minor injuries.

Chain Law Effective?

Colorado's chain law was in effect for Vail Pass when the accident occurred. However, one truck driver said that the chain law was in effect for only the eastbound lanes. He also said that the area, known as "the Narrows" is "notoriously bad" but that only one plow was visible, adding that he has never seen as poor quality of snow removal as it has been the last three years on the pass.

If you, or a loved one, have been injured in an auto accident, truck accident, or believe a loved one's death was the result of negligence, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced injury lawyer in your area.

An undercover sheriff's deputy was killed when his SUV was hit by a box truck in Houston. Authorities say Deputy Craig Miller was killed instantly when the truck failed to yield to oncoming traffic.

The truck, driven by Jose Vieyra, allegedly crossed three lanes of traffic after leaving a car dealership when it his Miller's SUV. Vieyra was charged with criminally negligent homicide, but the prosecutor on the case may reconsider the charges. Vieyra is an illegal immigrant who was working on an expired work visa at the time of the accident.

Miller's family may not receive all the benefits they would otherwise have because Miller's toxicology report states his blood alcohol content was .27, more than twice the legal limit. Though Miller's family is disputing the allegation, especially since he never had any problems on the job in his 20 years of service, the case has become more than simply a tragic accident.

However, at heart, this is still a probable case of wrongful death. Authorities state Vieyra's negligence caused Miller's death.

If you have lost a loved one due to driver negligence, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer
in your area.

A freak accident killed a University of North Texas student when an 18-wheeler ran off a freeway ramp and onto her car yesterday afternoon in Dallas, Texas. The driver of the rig was thrown from the cab and also died.

20-year-old Ashley Parra, a first semester student at UNT, was half a mile from her job when the truck jumped the ramp and crushed her car. Police believe the load of metal pipe stems in the semi's trailer shifted as the truck rounded the elevated ramp, causing the accident. Speed may have also been a factor.

As commerce grows and goods flow across the country, the number of semi trucks on the highways increase. As the numbers of trucks increases, so do the chances of being involved in an accident with one. Because these trucks are so big, weighing up to 80,000 pounds and up to 75 feet long, the accidents are more likely to lead to horrific injuries or death. The chances of involving numerous vehicles in accidents also increase.

Truck drivers often carry their loads from one side of the country to the other on highways we must share. But all too often, factors such as speed or driver fatigue lead to accidents involving 18-wheelers. In states with large shipping or commercial hubs, such as California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Florida, the numbers of large trucks on the road lead to higher incidents of accidents involving fatalities.

Statistics show that more accidents involving trucks happen in rural areas than they do in crowded urban areas. Twelve percent of all traffic fatalities in the United States were caused by truck accidents, but in 98% of those, the passengers or drivers of smaller vehicles were killed while the drivers of the trucks were either injured or unscathed.

If you have been injured, or lost a loved one, in a truck accident, please contact the Accident Lawyers Network to find an experienced lawyer in your area.