Traffic was backed up for more than 20 miles on Florida’s I-75 on June 25, 2010 shortly after 4 pm due to what appeared to have been a single vehicle accident. The vehicle appeared to have been a cargo van carrying an excessive load of lumber. Apparently the van skidded across all three lanes of the southbound traffic before leaving the roadway into the swale on the west side of I-75. The cargo van suffered extensive damage mostly to the roof in the area above the driver’s seat, leaving much concern about the fate of the driver.
The roadway displayed gouge and yaw marks cutting across all 3 southbound lanes at an almost 45 degree angle to the path of travel.
It seemed as though the van may have been overloaded with building lumber and that the load of lumber may not have been properly secured or evenly distributed inside the van; although this is preliminary speculation.
Our immediate concern was whether the driver could have also been impaled by the load of lumber which appeared to have been 2″x4″x8’s, which appeared to have been stacked to the height of where it would meet the rear of the driver’s skull. Furthermore, the cargo van did not appear to have been equipped a barrier wall separating the driver from the cargo area that might have possibly retained the load from striking the front seat occupants in the event of a sudden stop or crash.
It is unfortunate that in today’s economy laborers apparently need to cut corners on expenses and use an inappropriate means of transporting construction materials at the risk of their own lives as well as other commuters on Florida’s highways.
Furthermore, it is this writer’s opinion that if the operator of this van was transporting this improperly shipped load at the demands of a Florida construction type corporation that entity should not only be responsible for his personal injuries and damages, but should also face strict Federal and Florida State scrutiny and penalties for recklessly endangering other Florida lives.
For further discussion of this topic please feel free to contact the Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorneys at the Schulman Law Group by calling 1-877-529-0444 or email us at info@www.schulaw.com.
