Alabama Car Accident Lawyer Blog

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 two car collision near Lexington, Alabama (Lauderdale Co.) has sadly claimed the life of Thomas P. Scott, 32, St. Joseph, Tennessee. The car accident occurred on Alabama Hwy 64 around 5:30 am last Friday morning. The driver of the other vehicle, Cory Scott Goode, 30, of Anderson was also seriously injured in the wreck and taken to Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence. A report indicates there was a severe impact between the two vehicles. The cause of the car accident is still under investigation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to both families.

This car wreck brings up an interesting legal dynamic that of when one party involved in a car accident is from Alabama and the other is from another state. Since the car accident happened in Alabama the cause of action for either party can be brought in Alabama state court; however, if the amount in controversy is over $75,000.00 then the other party could remove the matter to Federal Court based upon diversity of citizenship. Federal Courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and only hear certain types of cases under certain circumstances. Essentially if there are only 2 parties to a lawsuit and they are from different states and the amount in controversy (amount at issue) is over $75,000.00 then Federal Court can have jurisdiction to hear the matter. The issue gets more complicated as more parties are added. We will discuss this matter further in an upcoming Alabama Injury Attorney Blog post.