Alabama Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Many thanks to the Volunteers of America, a national nonprofit organization. VOA provides support programs to more than 2 million worthy disabled people in the USA every year. In 1965 a client named Bob and Doug Martinson were appointed as co-trustees for Bob's nephew after the nephew's mother was killed in a boating accident near Ditto Landing. The nephew, had Down's Syndrome. He died in March of 2011. VOA had provided Bob's nephew with employment, room, board, transportation and counseling for around 20 years. Each year the income from the trust fund was distributed to VOA. When he died, Bob and Doug jointly decided to distribute the remainder of the trust funds to VOA in appreciation of the support he received from VOA.

Learn more about VOA by visiting www.voana.org. What a terrific organization!!!

A tragic wreck has claimed the life of Christopher Softley (53) of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. According to an article by Tom Smith of the TimesDaily, the accident occurred about 7:30 am last Thursday morning on Singing River Bridge. Mr. Softley was driving a John Deere tractor and pulling a bush hog when his tractor was clipped from behind by a Mack dump truck that was loaded with gravel. The collision between the dump truck and tractor caused the tractor to flip over and onto its side, trapping Mr. Softley underneath. The collision also caused the dump truck to flip onto its side causing its load to be spilled onto the highway. The driver of the dump truck, Robert L. Cowan, of Russellville, was treated and released from the hospital with minor injuries.

At this time, the police have not released the cause of this accident. From the initial facts, it appears, the driver of the dump truck failed to keep a proper lookout. The Rules of the Road, Title 32 of the Alabama Code, require each driver to a keep a proper lookout and maintain a safe distance between the vehicle in front of them to allow sufficient distance within which to stop their vehicle. Obviously, the distance required to stop a fully loaded gravel truck would be much greater than a normal passenger vehicle. An experienced Alabama truck accident attorney would want to inspect the driver and maintenance logs for this driver and vehicle. Many rear end accidents of this type are caused by faulty or defective brakes. Here the subject dump truck should be thoroughly inspected to determine if any mechanical errors contributed to the cause of this accident.

For information on driving tractors on highways, please see the article, Safe Tractor Operation: Driving on Highways.

A new Driving Under the Influence (DUI) law in Alabama hopes to crack down on drunk drivers and drinking and driving car accidents. The new DUI law, which will be signed into law today by Governor Robert Bentley, will increase the severity of penalty if the driver is more intoxicated. Currently, it is illegal to drive if you blood alcohol level (BAL) is .08 or higher. But the severity of the penalty does not increase if your BAL is higher than .08. Under this new DUI law. if a driver's BAL is over .15 they will automatically lose their drivers license for one year. See Senate Bill 67.

As Huntsville car accident attorneys who handle drinking and driving automobile accidents routinely, this new law is a step in the right direction. Sadly, we too often see the life changing results that occur when people make the deadly decision to drink and drive. For more information on this matter please, see our DUI car accidents page.

Huntsville car accident lawyer Morris Lilienthal represented our clients who were involved in a March 2010 car wreck. Our clients, a mother and her two young children, were proceeding through the intersection of US 72 and Interstate 65 in Athens, Alabama, at approximately 3:40 pm, when a drunk driver ran a red light and struck our client's vehicle. A detailed investigation of the automobile accident revealed that a witness to the wreck stopped the intoxicated driver from fleeing the scene before he was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). Our clients suffered severe neck and back injuries that required consistent medical treatment and physical therapy. We are pleased to announce that we have reached a full and final settlement with the other driver and our client's uninsured (underinsured) motorist carrier.

This case is a sad reminder of the dangers of drinking and driving. In 2009, there were 6,671 automobile crashes in Alabama involving a driver who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Out of those wrecks, 290 people were killed in alcohol and drug related crashes in Alabama in 2009. For more information on this topic, please visit our DUI car accident's page.

By: Morris Lilienthal, Huntsville Personal Injury Attorney