Truck Accidents: Left Turn Cases

What
are
we
going
to
cover?

•  Big
picture

•  Defensive
Driving
and
Safe
Driving
Rules

•  Adjunct
issues
(night,
weather,
load)

•  Accident
Reconstruc?on
Issues

•  Approach
to
Driver
Depo/Examina?on

•  Approach
to
Safety
Director
Depo/Examina?on

•  Approach
to
Accident
Inves?gator/Reconstruc?onist

–  Direct
and
Cross
Deposi?on

•  What
about
compara?ve
fault?

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC

www.thetruckingaNorneys.com

Big
Picture
–
Kind
of
LeR
Turn
Cases

•  Intersec?on

•  Driveway/Street
Pull
Out
or
In

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


•  Rules
of
the
Road

•  Society
is
rules-‐based

•  The
more
conserva?ve,
the
more
rules
based

•  Jurors
want
to
know
what
rules
apply
to
case

•  Easier
for
jurors
to
ﬁnd
against
a
rules
breaker

•  Also
think
Breach
of
Contract

•  Rules
should
be:

–  Easy
for
jurors
to
understand

–  Hard
to
credibly
refute

–  Violated
by
defendant

–  Important
enough
to
be
signiﬁcant

–  JOE’s
Rules

•  Preferably
comes
from
source
other
than
ME

•  Not
Nitpicky
(If
you
nitpick,
you
lose)

•  Fair

(if
not
fair,
jurors
will
excuse
viola?on)

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


•  Carrier
contracts
w/Govt
to
be
allowed
to
operate

–  Agrees
to
follow
the
FMCSR
and
State
Regs

•  Carrier
requires
driver
to
sign
onto
above
contract

•  Driver
contracts
to
follow
FMCSR/law
to
get
CDL

•  Driver
contracts
to
follow
policies
of
carrier

•  Policy
manual
as
contract

•  Employee
manual
as
contract

•  Training
manuals
as
contracts

•  You
get
the
point

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


Where
to
Find
Rules?

•  State
Statutes
and
Cases

•  Federal
and
State
Regula?ons

•  Jury
Charges

–  A
statement
of
law
read
to
jury

–  Creates
the
language
of
a
case

–  Liability,
causa?on
and
damages

–  Policy
Manuals
–
Schneider,
UPS

–  JJ
Keller
Training
Videos,
Books,
Pamphlets

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


Focus
Today

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


•  Driver

–  What
are
the
rules

–  Did
he
or
she
do
it
right

–  What
excuses
are
they
pu`ng
forward

–  How
can
I
use
rules
to
nail
liability,
make
case
bigger
than

crash,
add
to
my
credibility,
detract
from
their
credibility,

negate
compara?ve
fault,
etc

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


•  Company

–  What
are
their
rules

–  Did
they
do
it
right

–  How
is
this
case
about
COMPANY
failing
to
follow
rules

–  What
should
they
(we)
be
able
to
expect
from
them/driver?

–  What
excuses
are
they
pu`ng
forward

–  How
can
I
use
rules
to
nail
liability,
make
case
bigger
than

crash,
add
to
my
credibility,
detract
from
their
credibility,

negate
compara?ve
fault,
etc

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


CDL
–
A
LiNle
Background

•  Each
State
Publishes
–
95+%
content
mandated
FHA

•  Purpose
is
to
set
out
what
State
expects
from
CDL

driver
–
Trucking
101

•  Its
not
me
saying
it
–
by
govt
for
industry

•  TIP
–
Get
CDL
Manual
for:

–  State
where
Driver
resides

–  State
where
collision
occurs

–  State
where
Defendant
Company
resides

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


GA
CDL
REVIEW
–
SECTION
2

DRIVING
SAFELY

•  Vehicle
Inspec?on
•  Railroad
Crossings

•  Basic
Control
of
Vehicle
•  Mountain
Driving

•  ShiRing
Gears
•  Driving
Emergencies

•  Seeing
•  An?lock
Braking
Systems

•  Communica?ng
•  Skid
Control
and
Recovery

•  Space
Management
•  Accident
Procedures

•  Seeing
Hazards
•  Fires

•  Distracted
Driving
•  Alcohol,
Drugs,
&
Driving

•  Aggressive
Driving
•  Staying
Alert
&
Fit
to
Drive

•  Night
Driving
•  Hazardous
Materials
Rules

•  Winter
Driving

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


•  Idea
is
to
use
CDL
•  Does
Driver
agree
w/Rule?

manual
to
iden?fy
•  Does
Safety
Director
agree?

rule(s)
violated
in
•  Does
Defense
expert
agree?

case

•  Strategically
decide

–  Whether
to
show
rule

–  When
to
show
rule

•  Depo
–
early
late

•  Wait
for
trial?

•  Ask
Ques?ons
to
establish:

•  Iden?fy
the
concept
as
a
rule

•  That
it
is
a
basic
rule
that
all
drivers/companies
are

supposed
to
know
and
abide

•  That
driver/company
knew
this
was
the
rule

•  Had
to
know
for
CDL
test

•  Rule
wriNen
for
drivers,
not
lawsuits

•  Fair
for
jury
to
hold
them
to
the
rule

•  RULE
VIOLATED
!
(knowingly,
willfully,
inten?onally)

DRIVERS ARE TRAINED TO
KNOW IT TAKES OTHER
DRIVERS TIME TO
PERCEIVE AND REACT –
USE IT

o  Show all the things they have to do to get a license

o  Show all they have to do daily before they can drive
o  INSPECTIONS

o  Show that they have to know how to do things like
check the adjustment of brakes, etc., that most
people do not need to know

o  Distinguish them from regular non-CDL drivers to
show that it is fair to hold them to a higher standard
o  CDL DRIVER = PILOT

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


Commercial
Vehicle
Preventable

Accident
Manual

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


Commercial
Vehicle
Preventable
Accident
Manual

CMV
Preventable
Accident
Manual

Professional
Driver:

•  You
consider
yourself
to
be
a
professional

•  Professional
because
you
earn
living
on
the
road

–  It
is
a
great
privilege
to
be
allowed
to
earn
living
on
road

–  With
great
privilege,
Yoda
said
comes
great
responsibility

•  Professional
because
lot
more
training
than
US

–  Special
driving
school

–  Know
how
to
do
all
sorts
of
things
(brkes,
axles,
INSPECTION,
etc)

–  Special
tests

•  YOU
hold
self
to
professional
standard
(higher?)

•  FAIR
for
your
ER
to
hold
you
up
as
a
professional?

•  Fair
for
US
to
hild
you
to
professional
standard?

Part
of
being
professional
is
being
courteous

•  Not
being
a
bully
in
how
you
drive

•  Not
parking
anywhere
you
want
to

•  Not
tailga?ng

•  Not
driving
aggressively

•  Not
trying
to
beat
lights

•  ATTITUDE

•  Insert
what
you
need
from
case

•  Being
a
defensive
driver
means
never
star?ng
a

leR
turn
unless
you
KNOW
that
you
can
complete

that
turn
without
other
vehicle
ever
reaching
you

–  INSERT
CDL
MANUAL
AND
OTHER
INDUSTRY
MATERIAL

–  Without
any
other
vehicle
having
to
brake
or
take
other

evasive
ac?on

–  If
you
cant
be
certain,
you
cant
turn

–  You
cant
hold
your
breath
and
turn

– 
You
cant
expect
other
drivers
to
see
you
–
misnomer

–  You
cant
expect
other
vehicles
to
avoid
you

RULES
–
LEFT
TURN
-‐
DRIVER

•  CMV
Driver
must
consider
op?ons

–  Op?on
to
go
to
controlled
leR
turn

–  Op?on
to
make
three
right
turns

•  Never
acceptable
for
CMV
driver
to
start
turn

unless
can
CLEAR
all
lanes
without

–  Other
vehicles
reaching
them

–  Other
vehicles
having
to
brake
or
take
other

evasive
ac?on

•  If
CMV
driver
is
not
SURE,
cant
go.
BeNer
safe

than
sorry.

RULES
–
LEFT
TURN
-‐
COMPANY

•  CMV
Driver
must
consider
op?ons

–  Op?on
to
go
to
controlled
leR
turn

–  Op?on
to
make
three
right
turns

•  Never
acceptable
for
CMV
driver
to
start
turn

unless
can
CLEAR
all
lanes
without

–  Other
vehicles
reaching
them

–  Other
vehicles
having
to
brake
or
take
other

evasive
ac?on

•  If
CMV
driver
is
not
SURE,
cant
go.
BeNer
safe

than
sorry.

•  TRAINING
–
WHAT
IS
YOUR
DUTY?

Negate
Compara?ve
Fault

• ShiR
focus
from
what
the
Plain?ﬀ
did

• Expect
the
unexpected

• Means driving expecting to encounter __________"
• (ice, drunks, young drivers, old drivers, careless
drivers, bad drivers, aggressive drivers, Whatever
you have in your case)"
• YOU DO NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY"

•  LeR
Turn
Cases
are
ALWAYS
?me
distance
cases

•  Lets
discuss
how
to
evaluate
?me
distance

•  How
to
address
these
issues
with
police
and

experts
and
jury

How
to
Win
Trucking
Cases:

FRIED
ROGERS
GOLDBERG
LLC


Truck Accidents: Left Turn Cases

Truck Accidents: Left Turn Cases

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