From the Selma Times Journal:

Following a ruling by the Dallas County Circuit Court, which dismissed all cases against the three Selma Police Department (SPD) officers indicted last year, Montgomery attorney Julian McPhillips held a press conference alongside officers Toriano Neely, Jeffrey Hardy and Kendall Thomas Thursday.

McPhillips called the ruling “historic and unprecedented” and condemned the actions of Special Agent Susan Smith of the Alabama Attorney General’s office, who presence during grand jury testimony ultimately led to the officers’ cases being dismissed.

Read the entire article at the Selma Times Journal.

Crashes involving big rig trucks can be devastating and are happening with greater frequency in Alabama. Interstate commerce needs have put more tractor trailers on our nation’s roads, and they are being driven further than ever thanks to a critical driver shortage.

Because of the violence surrounding a crash involving a large commercial truck, many of these accidents involve very serious injuries and often result in loss of life. One of the best ways to stay safe on the road is to have a better understanding of the dangers of these big rigs and know how to best avoid accidents with large commercial trucks.

The Dangers of 18-Wheelers

There are roughly half a million accidents involving big rigs on our nation’s roads each year. The maximum weight for one of these vehicles is 80,000 pounds of gross weight, which is over 15 times heavier than the average passenger car. When accidents happen, they are often due to truck driver error. Some of the most common mistakes that lead to these devastating crashes include:

• Substance abuse. Somewhere between one third and one-half of large truck drivers involved in accidents also use some type of drugs. These can impair decision-making and reflexes.
• Driver fatigue. Another truck driver impairment and cause of accidents is the extreme fatigue that comes with working and driving too many hours.
• Blind spot errors. When truck drivers are fatigued, impaired, or distracted, they may lose track of vehicles in their blind spots, which could lead to a serious crash.
• Speeding is extremely dangerous in any vehicle but can have tragic consequences when a commercial truck exceeds the speed limit. Speeding trucks can cause rollover accidents, jackknife accidents, and multicar crashes that result in severe injuries or death.

 How to Avoid Accidents With Big Rig Trucks

Passenger car drivers may need to operate their vehicles more defensively around large trucks. Since a truck’s visibility and stopping time may be diminished, a passenger car driver maintains the most control over their vehicle. While this doesn’t mean that you would shoulder the responsibility for a crash, keeping yourself and your passengers safe should be a priority. Some of the things that you can do to avoid one of these dangerous truck accidents include:

• Keep a safe distance. Many big rigs have signs and stickers warning of their limited visibility. Take these seriously. As a general rule, you should try to stay as much as four car lengths behind a truck and avoid changing lanes right in front of them.
• Know the “no” zones. That limited visibility that trucks have is because of their blind spots that are referred to as “No Zones”. When driving near these massive vehicles, stay out of these blind spot areas, which are on all four sides of the vehicle.
• Pass big rigs safely. Use extreme caution when you pass a big rig. If you are on a two-way road, it’s going to take much longer to pass a truck than another car, and your visibility could be limited for part of the time. Always pass on the left side, use a turn signal to announce your intentions, and wait until you are six or more car lengths ahead of the truck to re-enter the lane.
• Give trucks space to turn. Big rigs require a significant amount of space to turn, and you risk being trapped or causing an accident if you creep up on their right side. Always use extra caution around intersections.
• Report unsafe operation. If you ever witness a truck driving erratically, operating too fast for conditions, or driving with an unsafe load, pull over and report it to the authorities. You may end preventing a serious crash.

Speak with an Experienced Alabama Truck Accident Lawyer

Most big rig truck crashes are avoidable. While they aren’t all the fault of the truck driver, many are. If you have been injured or lost a loved one in one of these tragic accidents, the experienced Alabama truck accident attorneys at McPhillips Shinbaum, LLP, will investigate your claim and work diligently to protect your rights.

Our Alabama personal injury attorneys aggressively advocate for the rights of accident victims throughout the state. We will investigate the circumstances of your accident and pursue damages from the parties responsible for your losses. Contact our office now at 334.262.1911 or reach out to us online to discuss your case.

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Each day, school buses across the nation carry more than 25 million students to and from school and activities. The school year has been back in full swing for two months in some places, and many children are spending extra time on school buses for sports and field trips. But, are your children really safe on school buses?

In reality, school bus accidents are rare. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 327 children lost their lives in school bus-related accidents between 2004 and 2013. That might seem unacceptably high, but of this number, 147 children were in other vehicles, 125 were pedestrians or cyclists, and 54 were on a school bus. Still, there’s always room for improvement.

Improving Alabama School Bus Safety

Despite the figures that favor the safety of school buses, there are some real concerns. The NHTSA itself believes that there are several ways that schools and school bus companies can improve safety. Their recommendations include:

• Paying extra attention to loading and unloading zones. More school bus-related accidents and injuries occur while buses are loading and unloading children than when they are driving on the road. When drivers fail to see children in a blind spot, in front, or behind the bus, they are more likely to hit or even run over a child, causing serious injury or death.
• Reducing driver distractions. Just as with passenger vehicles, distracted school bus drivers can cause some serious if not deadly accidents. The NHTSA recommends that policies be in place to prohibit such things as texting or interacting with passengers while driving so that buses are as safe as possible. In fact, it is now illegal in the state of Alabama to use a cell phone while driving to send or receive text messages.
• Requiring seatbelt use. Another way to increase the safety of school buses is to have seatbelts on the vehicles and require their use. The NHTSA believes that all school buses should have seatbelts, but the federal governments and most state governments have done little to further these initiatives.

Large school buses around the nation still don’t require safety belts. This is not the case, however, with smaller school buses. According to the NHTSA, the weight of larger school buses provides a measure of safety as a heavier bus will distribute crash forces differently than a passenger vehicle. Smaller school buses, under 10,000 pounds, are different. These need to have safety belts, either lap or shoulder belts, to provide additional crash protection.

Ways to Keep Your Children Safe Around School Buses

School bus companies and school districts must do their part to keep the transportation experience as safe as possible for children. There are also several ways that parents, and even children, can help prevent dangerous school bus accidents. Because most accidents occur outside the bus, here are five safety precautions to keep in mind courtesy of the National Safety Council:

1. As the bus is approaching, children should move back from the road to line up.
2. Children should not move towards the bus until it has come to a complete stop and the vehicle’s doors have opened.
3. When getting off of the bus, children should cross the street at least 10 feet in front of the bus for the most visibility. Have children make eye contact with the bus driver before beginning to cross. Children should still look out for unexpected traffic.
4. If a child must cross the street where there is a visual obstruction, such as a parked car, the child should carefully move to where others cars can see them before beginning to cross. Again, children should always look for traffic and look both ways before crossing the road.
5. Always stay away from the rear wheels of the bus.

Who is to Blame When a School Bus Accident Occurs?

When a school bus accident does happen, the result can be serious and life-changing. Depending on the situation, the fault could lie with any number of parties. These include:

• The school bus driver
• The school bus company
• The school district
• Another driver
• The bus manufacturer
• A parts manufacturer
• The school bus maintenance company

When there is potentially more than one party at fault in an accident, a case can become complicated. Whatever the cause of a school bus accident, if your child is injured, you may be entitled to compensation for damages.

Contact the Alabama school bus injury attorneys at McPhillips Shinbaum today at 334.262.1911 or online to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.