Personal Injury Law

Truck Accident Prevention: Truck backing over pedestrian woman is preventable.

By Steve Lombardi

I've written previously about rear runovers and the use of rear beeping or auditory warning devices. On November 7, 2008 it happened again when a woman in downtown Des Moines was backed over by a garbage truck. I've covered this subject more extensively on the Lombardi Law Firm blog, The Verdict, as well as on the InjuryBoard where the emphasis was on prevention. At least four accidents of a similar nature have occurred in the not-to-distant past.

Accidents Described - More common than you might think!

1. The first example comes about on October 27, 2004. In that case we researched this issue involving a situation in Oceola, Clarke County, Iowa. The vehicle was a shag truck with a disconnected rear-warning-device. The driver couldn’t see and simply backed up over a fellow security guard worker. Luckily the woman didn’t die.

2. The second example came up as a news item by the Gazetteonline.com from Cedar Rapids and it caught my attention on June 7, 2008. In that case a Garnavillo woman working at a sand company was backed over by an end loader. She died at the scene.

3. In the third example a 4-year-old child was backed over in Gowrie and it was reported in the Des Moines Register on October 7, 2008. In that instance the driver of a Ford pickup truck didn’t see the child as they were backing out of the driveway, continued and the child was killed.

4. In the latest case a Des Moines woman died of massive head and leg injuries on November 7, 2008 when a garbage truck backed over her while in an alley to the rear of the Aviva USA Insurance Company building. That building is close to the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Park Street, downtown Des Moines.

These are all sad cases and our heart goes out to the survivers and the drivers who live with the pain but according to experts these accidents are preventable.

Rear warning devices have to work, shouldn’t be plugged up or covered or disconnected. They should be appropriately loud and distinct enough for the work zone. If the vehicle was manufactured with a rear warning device it can not be disconnected without a written consent of the manufacturer. If the rear alarm doesn’t work the vehicle shouldn’t be used until it’s repaired. OSHA has specific rules based on the industry and the history of past accidents.

The driver has certain responsibilities as do the company that owns the truck and the pedestrian as well as the landlord.

These accidents are preventable.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).