Trucking Accident Spills more than $180,000 on I-95
Interstate 95 through South Florida was partially shut down twice in two weeks in late September because of serious accidents involving large trucks. In fact, the first of the crashes attracted national attention because it caused one of the trucks to lose its unusual cargo -- a load of more than $180,000 worth of nickels headed to a federal building in Miami.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the truck carrying the nickels rear-ended another semi early in the morning, sending the front truck into the guardrail and overturning the rear truck. Four tons of coins spilled across the highway, prompting officials to close the highway both for safety reasons and to allow several federal agencies to pick up the money. The crash killed a man sleeping in the back of the rear truck and injured both drivers.
Just a week later, I-95 was closed in both directions after a series of three trucking accidents happened near the Indian River-Brevard County line. Florida Today reports that a southbound semi truck struck a guardrail and overturned onto a median at about 2:30 p.m. A few minutes later, a northbound tractor-trailer jackknifed in the northbound lanes, closing that side of the road as well. And a fire truck crashed on the way to the scene. Thankfully, no one was injured, although the tractor-trailer's driver was charged with careless driving.
As a Florida large truck accident lawyer, I am grateful that these accidents were not much worse. You are probably already aware of the dangers of accidents with Mack trucks or 18-wheelers, whose much larger weight can be deadly in an accident with a passenger car or truck. And the spilling of nickels might sound like a funny story, but if it had happened during rush hour, those four tons of coins could have caused some very serious accidents. In addition to the truck accident itself, any loss of a load adds more potential hazards to the road. Imagine reacting at highway speeds to a load of nickels, logs or boxes of consumer products that comes flying at you without warning.
And of course, unattended money could have attracted pedestrians to the highway, which is just unsafe for everyone involved. I am sure that was part of the reason authorities closed the highway for so long, and even though it was an inconvenience to many Florida motorists, I believe it was the right thing to do. Automobile accidents are very serious, causing irreversible injuries like brain damage, paralysis and amputations. We should do everything we can to prevent them -- and those who become victims anyway are entitled to collect compensation when they are hurt by another driver's carelessness. If you or someone you love is in this position, please contact my firm, Cohn, Smith & Cohn, for a free consultation on your case.
