Short summary: A tractor-trailer struck a disabled pickup stopped on the shoulder of the Thruway before dawn, killing one person and seriously injuring another. Crashes involving commercial trucks generally leave behind a paper and data trail that ordinary crashes do not, and much of it is only preserved if somebody asks in time.
Anyone who has ever waited on a highway shoulder knows how exposed that position is.
What happened
Around 2:30 a.m. on Friday, September 4, a westbound tractor-trailer on Interstate 90 in Newstead struck a disabled pickup truck stopped on the right shoulder. A 61-year-old Rochester resident died at the scene. A 62-year-old Rochester man was taken to Erie County Medical Center in serious condition.
The tractor-trailer driver, a 30-year-old from Ontario, Canada, was not hurt, and field sobriety testing showed no signs of impairment. The investigation was continuing and no charges were reported, as reported by 13WHAM.
Why truck cases are different
A commercial carrier operating in interstate commerce is generally subject to federal safety regulations covering hours of service, driver qualification, vehicle inspection and maintenance. That produces records: electronic logging device data, driver qualification files, inspection reports, dispatch records and the engine control module data that shows speed and braking.
It also generally means a larger insurance policy than a private car carries, because federal minimums for interstate carriers are far above New York's personal auto minimums.
The evidence has a shelf life
Carriers are only required to retain certain records for limited periods, and electronic data gets overwritten as a truck keeps running. A letter demanding preservation, sent early, is often the difference between a case built on records and a case built on argument.
The same applies to the vehicles themselves, which is the point we made about event data recorders in our post on the 121 mph guilty plea.
The disabled-vehicle question
Where a vehicle was stopped, whether hazard lights were on, whether reflective triangles were deployed and how visible the shoulder was at 2:30 a.m. will all be part of this investigation. Those questions can produce shared fault, and shared fault in New York generally reduces a recovery rather than eliminating it.
It also raises whether anyone else contributed, including a tow operator, a repair shop, or a road authority responsible for shoulder lighting and design. Our Thruway truck crash post covers similar ground.
Questions New Yorkers ask us
Does it matter that the truck driver passed a sobriety test?
Generally not much for a civil claim. Impairment is one way to prove carelessness. Failing to see a stopped vehicle on a lit shoulder, driving too fast for conditions, or driving past the hours-of-service limit are others.
Who can be responsible besides the truck driver?
Generally the motor carrier that employed the driver, the owner of the trailer, a maintenance contractor, and sometimes a shipper or broker. Each is a separate claim with separate insurance behind it.
Not sure where you stand after a crash? Get your free case review or call (888) 208-0529. A real person answers, 24/7.
Reporting: 13WHAM.
