Maine Injury Lawyer Blog

Distracted driving car accidents in Portland and elsewhere are becoming a top concern for officials as more drivers than ever are taking their eyes off the road. To help combat the problem and to save some lives along the way, the National Safety Council (NSC) has released a new video series, "Understanding Distracted Driving," to help drivers to fully understand the dangers and the consequences of the dangerous driving behavior.

Our Maine car accident attorneys understand that state officials have yet to enact a ban on cell phone use by drivers. Currently, novice drivers in Maine are the only ones who are covered under a ban of cell phone use for both hand-held and hands-free devices. As of September 28th, no driver in our state is allowed to text while operating a motor vehicle. Unfortunately, not all motorists will abide by these laws and will continue to put other driver's lives in danger.

Throughout the NSC's new video series, the Senior Director of Transportation Initiatives at the NSC, David Teater, addresses a dozen popular questions regarding the dangerous habit, including just how severe distractions can be, why cell phones prove to be such a dangerous distraction and how employers can create an effective and beneficial cell phone policy for all employees.

Teater has chosen to conduct these videos because he and the NSC saw him as a good fit. Teater lost his 12-year-old son in a motor-vehicle accident that involved a distracted driver in 2004.

"Cell phone use and driving are a dangerous, and oftentimes deadly, combination," Teater said.

The NSC isn't the only one targeting distracted drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is at it, too. The NTSB recently made a proposal to ban all commercial truck drivers from using a cell phone and texting while driving.

The most recent proposal comes after a hearing that addressed a driver that was involved in a fatal accident just seconds after hanging up his cell phone. The accident took the lives of 11 people and sent local shops crumbling to the ground, according to FOX News.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there is a rule in place that bans truck drivers in Maine and nationwide from using texting while driving. The NTSB is trying to build on this rule by asking that the ban cover both truck and bus drivers and to prohibit both cell phone use and texting by these drivers.

"This is the most comprehensive recommendation we've made," said the NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman.

The NTSB doesn't have the authority to make something like this a federal law, so the proposal has been sent to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and each of the 50 states. This ban could potentially regulate the driving habits of nearly 3 million truck drivers in the United States and help to save thousands of lives on our roadways.

Continue reading "Advocates Step Up to Help Curb Distracted Driving Car Accidents in Portland and Elsewhere" »

A fatal trucking accident in Maine claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl on a YMCA horseback riding trip.

The Boston Herald reports a tractor-trailer was hauling sawdust on Route 2 when it collided into the back of a YMCA minivan headed to Acadia National Park in Vermont. Two adults and two other teenagers were transported to a local hospital. The family mourns the death of the young girl, who by age 12 had already established herself as an environmentalist winning the top prize for her reusable pizza box invention at the Invention Convention in Storrs, Connecticut.

Saving trees and global warming were two areas of interest for the young 12 year-old. The accident remains under investigation by Farmington police and State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit; the cause of the accident is still unknown.

Bangor car accident attorneys know that car collisions involving large trucks are not only dangerous because of the size of the truck but because many times they are transporting a load that can spill onto a roadway and make the situation that much more dangerous. Large trucking companies have a responsibility to hire reliable drivers and maintain their equipment. If you have been involved in an accident with a large truck, contact an experienced attorney to help you sort out who is at fault and to fight for the compensation that you deserve.

In 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 21 fatal large truck crashes involving another vehicle in Maine. This equated to roughly 10 percent of total fatal accidents involving all vehicles for that year.

In the news recently was a legislative proposal by Senator Snow to permit large trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds access to all highways and interstates in Maine.

Truckinginfo.com reports that current legislation limits overweight trucks of more than 80,000 pounds to use secondary roads with the Maine Turnpike from Kittery to Augusta being the only exception. The Commercial Truck Safety Act of 2011 would make states more consistent in allowable weights. There are 27 states that currently allow loads up to 100,000 pounds to travel on interstate highways. Maine truck drivers either have to unload some of their cargo when transporting through the state or take winding roads which travel through small towns and create a safety hazard for rural communities.

A report by the Maine Department of Transportation last fall indicated several advantages to the new proposed legislation which include: improving the environment, reduce transportation infrastructure costs, making businesses more competitive, increasing traffic safety, and saving on fuel costs.

We're not sure heavier trucks are the answer -- certainly we question whether allowing heavier trucks on the road can be spun as a way to improve safety. But neither do we think having heavier trucks traveling secondary roads through small communities is a good idea.

Continue reading "Increasing Weight Limits to 100,000 Pounds on Maine Interstates Could Increase Trucking Accidents in Bangor" »

In Maine, there is a potential intersection of the workers' compensation and personal injury systems when the injury is caused by a third party.

Generally, if you are injured at work, regardless of the cause, you are compensated for that injury entirely through the workers' compensation system. However, did you know that if a party other than your employer is responsible for the injury, you may also have a separate claim against that party?

For example, if you were driving a vehicle as part of your job and were injured in an accident caused by another driver, you have both a workers' compensation claim and a claim against the other driver.

Typically, the payments made by workers' compensation are conditional and may need to be reimbursed from your injury claim.

The interplay between these two systems can become extremely complicated. The auto accident specialists at Peter Thompson & Associates have handled hundreds of similar cases, partnering with experts in workers' compensation when necessary. Our team assures the best results for those navigating these two systems. We specialize in providing excellent customer service and quick results. For more information, contact Peter Thompson & Associates at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com on our car accident practice page.

Reported in the Sun Journal, October 16, 2010

PARIS -- Two people were injured late Friday morning when a car delivering mail was struck from behind by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer on a rainy, windswept stretch of Route 26 near the West Paris town line.

According to Lt. Michael Dailey of the Paris police, a 1998 Buick Century driven by 31-year-old Katie Brett of Paris was traveling south at 11:30 a.m. and had stopped to let a northbound car pass before she attempted to turn into Doe's Variety. Her car was hit by a Freightliner fuel truck driven by 53-year-old William LeTarte of Dummer, N.H. The truck was lettered with "Bill LeTarte Trucking" of Dummer.

The truck crushed the back half of Brett's car then pushed it across the northbound lane. A 2001 Ford pickup driven by Gloria Hadley, 57, of West Paris then struck the side of the truck as it crossed the road, tearing off one of the tractor-trailer's fuel tanks, Dailey said. The tank had an estimated 60 to 80 gallons of fuel, he said.

"It's amazing the people got out of it the way they did," Dailey said.

The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured.

Both women were taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital where they were treated and released, he said. Firefighters at the scene said Hadley complained of a hip injury. A woman who ran to the scene of the accident said Brett, a local mail carrier, was conscious but disoriented.

"We were right in the middle of what happened," said Doe's Market owner Doreen Brown, who was busy serving lunchtime customers when the crash occurred.

"It was a humongous bang. We could hear the truck driver's brakes before it happened," she said.

Brown and others inside the convenience store/luncheon business ran outside to help the drivers. Brown said when she looked inside the wrecked car she recognized the woman behind the wheel as a former employee.

"She used to work here. It was awful," Brown said, adding the woman was conscious and talking but confused.

The impact of the crash tore the fuel tank from the underside of the tractor-trailer, releasing a stream of fuel onto the highway. The road was closed to traffic for several hours.

Norway Fire Chief Dennis Yates said firefighters were attempting to divert the fuel that spilled from a nearby storm drain. The accident was across the street from the Little Androscoggin River.

"We're trying to keep the fuel above the water," Yates said of efforts to dig trenches in the pouring rain and lay white booms on the ground to separate the clean water from the fuel.

The Department of Environmental Protection and an accident reconstruction team from the Maine State Police were also at the scene.

Dailey said the accident is still under investigation but it appears that the truck driver may have been distracted.

Based on this report, it appears the tractor trailor truck is at fault for the injuries sustained by both of the other drivers in the accident. Documenting this conclusion by collecting the investigations from the Maine State Police, the Department of Tansportation and the Department of Environmental Protection would be prudent first steps in a claim for the injuries sustained. It would also be wise to get witness statements from those who knew Ms. Brett and interacted with her immediately following the collision. This will preserve their recollection of her altered mental state at the time of the accident. The auto accident specialists at Peter Thompson & Associates have handled thousands of similar claims and recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. We specialize in providing excellent customer service and quick results. For more information, contact Peter Thompson & Associates at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com on our car accident practice page.

INSURANCE ADJUSTERS HAVE THE INTERNET TOO!

Most people at one time or another have heard the advice "Do not put anything in an email or online that you would not want on the front page of the newspaper". This is never truer than when you are bringing a personal injury claim. The insurance company WILL search for your online profiles. More than once, we have received a call from an adjuster directing us to a client's online profile.

"So what?" you might be thinking, "I have nothing to hide. Besides, nothing I put on my Facebook or MySpace account has anything to do with my accident." This is almost never true. For example, if you are claiming an injury, and you are writing about all of the things you did over the weekend, that is relevant. If you are posting pictures of your participation in a charity walk, that is relevant. As your attorneys, we know the truth is accident victims have good days and bad days while recovering. It is our job to make that argument on your behalf. However, the insurance adjuster will use this to show that your injuries are not very serious.

Additionally, a big part of any case is how you would present to a jury, should that be necessary. Therefore, any indication online that puts you in an unflattering light can affect your case, even before it gets that far. For example, foul language and references to illegal activity or excessive drinking do not help your case. Particularly if there is an issue regarding who was at fault for the accident, because you need to appear as serious and credible as possible.

What can you do? First, if you have any profiles or accounts on any of the social media networks, set everything possible to the highest privacy setting.

Second, be careful about allowing a connection from anyone you do not personally know.

Third, again, think about what you are putting online. Although the privacy settings are a good first level of protection, there has recently been a case in New York where a judge allowed the Defendant's lawyer to access the Plaintiff's Facebook account. Romano v. Steelcase Inc., 2006-2233 (N.Y. Super. Sept. 21, 2010.). In that case, the Defendant argued that since the Plaintiff was claiming a loss of enjoyment of life and permanent injuries, her postings were relevant to see if this was true. The judge agreed, and said that because the point of these websites is the share information, it is discoverable, even if the person has their settings set to private.

If you have been injured in an accident and you have questions about what information insurance companies can use to evaluate your claim, please contact us at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website, www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com, on our car accident practice page.

What happens if someone else's negligence behind the wheel causes you injury and they don't have enough insurance? In Maine, every auto insurance policy is required to have several components. In a previous post, we discussed uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, or the coverage that exists when the other party is not insured. The partner component of UM coverage is underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage. Like with UM coverage, every auto insurance policy in Maine must have a minimum of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident of UIM coverage (See Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 29-A Section 1605 (1)(C)(2) & (3) and Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 24-A Section 2902). This means, if you have insurance, you automatically have this coverage as part of your policy.

UIM coverage is used when someone causes you injury and their insurance policy is not sufficient to cover your damages. For example, although Maine requires $50,000 minimum of insurance, Massachusetts only requires $20,000 minimum. With the rising costs of medical expenses, even a moderate injury can easily use up this amount. This must also cover any lost wages, pain and suffering, attorney's fees, and all other damages you may have. (The only exception is your vehicle damage, which is usually covered separately.)

So, if you are injured by someone who has $20,000 of insurance and you have $50,000, then there is a total of $70,000 of coverage right? Unfortunately, no. In Maine, your UIM carrier receives a credit for the amount paid by the insurance company for the at fault driver. Therefore, in this example there is only a total of $50,000 of coverage. $20,000 paid by the at fault driver and $30,000 paid by your UIM carrier. Therefore, if you only have the minimum required insurance coverage of $50,000 of UIM, and someone else with the minimum causes you an injury, there is no additional coverage for your injuries.

Just like with UM coverage, that limit is further split, depending on how many people are injured in the accident. For example, if a family of three are traveling in the same car and all three are injured, the maximum amount available for the whole accident is capped at $100,000. No one person can recover more than $50,000 and the total amount the insurance company will have to pay will not exceed $100,000. Again, if all three have even moderate injuries, there will likely not be enough money to properly compensate everyone.

It is always a good idea to purchase as much insurance as you can afford. The minimum requirement of $50,000 may not be enough if you are seriously injured by an underinsured driver.

In cases with very high damages, there may be additional coverage if you are listed on more than one UIM insurance policy. This circumstance requires a complex analysis of the policies involved and presenting the claim properly to the insurance companies.

If you have been injured by an underinsured motorist and have questions about how to be compensated through your underinsured motorist coverage, contact us at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website, www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com, on our car accident practice page.

What happens if someone else's negligence behind the wheel causes you injury and they don't have insurance? In Maine, every auto insurance policy is required to have several components. One of those components is uninsured motorist coverage (UM). Every auto insurance policy must have a minimum of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident of UM coverage. (See Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 29-A Section 1605 (1)(C)(2) & (3) and Maine Revised Statutes Annotated Chapter 24-A Section 2902). This means, if you have insurance, you automatically have this coverage as part of your policy.

UM coverage is used when someone with no insurance at all causes you injury. In that case, you can use up to the amount of your policy. Therefore, if you have only purchased the state minimum of insurance, the maximum amount available to you from an accident will be $50,000. This is true even if the accident was not your fault. With the rising costs of medical expenses, even a moderate injury can easily use up this amount. This must also cover any lost wages, pain and suffering, attorney's fees, and all other damages you may have. (The only exception is your vehicle damage, which is usually covered separately.)

Note that the limit is further split, depending on how many people are injured in the accident. For example, if a family of three are traveling in the same car and all three are injured, the maximum amount available for the whole accident is capped at $100,000. No one person can recover more than $50,000 and the total amount the insurance company will have to pay will not exceed $100,000. Again, if all three have even moderate injuries, there will likely not be enough money to properly compensate everyone.

It is always a good idea to purchase as much insurance as you can afford. The minimum requirement of $50,000 may not be enough if you are seriously injured by an uninsured driver.

If you have been injured by an uninsured motorist and have questions about how to be compensated through your uninsured motorist coverage, contact us at 1-800-917-1784 or read more on our website, www.Peter-Thompson-Associates.com, on our car accident practice page.

Christopher Breingan of Norridgewock was seriously injured Wednesday in an early morning collision with a tractor-trailer, the Morning Sentinel reported on September 10th. Mr. Breingan, 25, suffered head and hip injuries after being pinned inside his 1987 Chevrolet pickup truck.

The accident happened at around 3:30 a.m. at the intersection of Main Street, Perkins Street and Bridge Street, on U.S. Route 2. A Kenworth tractor-trailer owned by Tremblay & Levesque Inc., driven by William Spencer, 67, of Howland, slammed into Mr. Breingan's pickup truck on the driver's side as the truck was proceeding through the intersection toward Perkins Street. Breingan was trapped inside the truck, and was rescued by members of the Norridgewock Fire Department using hydraulic cutting tools.

The pickup truck was totaled and tractor-trailer had approximately $10,000 in damage, according to police. Breingan was taken by helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. There is still no word on his condition.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation and it is as yet unclear who is at fault. As Portland and Bangor personal injury attorneys, we know that several factors can contribute to accidents like this one, including alcohol, road conditions and other vehicles. Our firm has investigated similar incidents in the past and employs expert reconstructionists to determine the cause of accident and who ultimately was at fault.

Andrew St. Laurent was driving with Randall Black when Black's truck plunged off a one-lane bridge in Monmouth and into an Annabessacook Lake tributary, the Kennebec Journal reported on September 2nd.

The crash occurred around 3:30 p.m. when Black's Pat Jackson Inc. septic truck hit a flatbed truck being driven by 74 year-old Perry Malcolm. Black says he was unable to stop, and drove his truck to the right, through the guard rail and off the bridge to avoid a head-on collision. St. Laurent, whose son will marry Black's daughter in a few weeks, reached across the top of the cab to hold Black's head above water until rescuers could free both men.

St. Laurent was checked at the scene, but Black was rushed by ambulance to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. He suffered no broken bones, but his kidneys may have been damaged when he was crushed between the truck and guard rail. He is scheduled for medical tests to see how badly he was hurt.

So far it is unclear who is at fault. Malcolm, who was driving the flatbed for Sandelin Precast Products and Foundations, claims he slowed before going on the bridge and claims that Black was speeding. But Black disputes this account, insisting he was driving well under the limit and it was Malcolm who was racing down the one lane bridge.

Although there were no other eyewitnesses, there are still several ways to determine who's at fault for this accident. As Portland and Bangor personal injury attorneys, Peter Thompson and Associates have handled scores of cases where the cause of the accident is initially unclear. We employ expert accident reconstructionists who study physical evidence at the scene, and we analyze witness statements, looking for inconsistencies, to determine the true cause of the accident. If Malcolm was indeed speeding, he or the company he works for could have to compensate Black for his medical bills, lost income, any permanent impairment as well as his pain and suffering.

One person is dead in Franklin County after a serious accident involving a tractor-trailer, a sedan and a pickup truck.

It happened on U.S. Route 2 Thursday afternoon. Route 2 is shut down from the Route 17 intersection in Dixfield to Morrison Hill Road in Carthage.

Investigators say a person in the sedan was dead at the scene. Four people in the pickup truck were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.

An accident between a car and a semi truck injured both drivers and narrowly missed causing a serious toxic spill, the Bangor Daily News reported June 29. According to the Daily News, a Montville man pulled his Lincoln Town Car into the path of the tractor-trailer. The truck was pulling a tanker full of sodium hydroxide -- a chemical most people know as lye or caustic soda. Both the driver of the Lincoln, 28-year-old William Mathieson, and the trucker, 51-year-old Raymond Pottle of Carmel, were taken to the hospital. The truck rolled over near Half Moon Stream, but a hazmat crew was able to prevent the lye from spilling into the water.

According to the article, Pottle's truck hit Mathieson's car on the driver's side door, causing head injuries and internal injuries to Mathieson. Authorities called a LifeFlight helicopter for Mathieson, but the foggy weather prevented it from taking off, so he was taken to Waldo County General Hospital and then to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Pottle, who said his ribs hurt, was also taken to Waldo County General Hospital. Meanwhile, crews were working to keep the load of 8,000 gallons of lye, originally intended for a paper mill, from spilling out of the tanker. The tanker had not been ruptured, and authorities were able to keep it that way until another tanker arrived. The accident closed Route 137 for four hours.

While the injuries in this accident could be quite serious and should not be overlooked, as a Bangor, Maine semi truck accident lawyer, I'd like to discuss the lye spill as well. Lye has household uses, most commonly as a drain cleaner, in laundry and, until recent decades, as a hair relaxer. However, if you keep lye around the house, you probably know that it's dangerous -- it burns human flesh on contact. That alone would be enough to make a lye spill into a stream an environmental hazard. But lye can also explode when dissolved and can produce volatile gases when it comes into contact with certain common metals. Without the quick action of the hazmat team, the lives of everyone nearby -- and everything that uses the stream as a water supply -- could have been in serious danger.

Judging solely by the information in this article, it doesn't look like the truck driver is to blame for this accident. However, if investigators conclude that the trucker's bad driving, defects in the tank or careless loading of the tanker was responsible for the accident, the truck driver, his trucking company or both could be legally liable for all of the injuries and costs that resulted. Just like ordinary drivers, truckers are legally responsible for making good decisions on the road, and responsible for the results when they fail to take reasonable care. Victims of those bad decisions can enforce their rights and collect financial compensation with a Maine tractor-trailer accident lawsuit.

Continue reading "Knox, Maine Tanker Truck Accident Seriously Injures Driver and Spills Dangerous Substance Across Road" »