Pickup Truck and Tractor Trailer Collision Kills Teen and Injures Four Others

(Delaware County, Pennsylvania) – March 25^th, 2016 – A high school student was killed in a crash involving a pickup truck and tractor trailer that also injured four other people in Middletown, Delaware, as reported by NBC 10. Salesianum School officials in Wilmington confirmed that 17-year-old Tyler Brown, who was one of their students, died in the accident on March 11^th. Delaware County, Pennsylvania truck accident lawyers are making phone calls about this case right now.

Brown as well as Kelly Muschiatti, a 17-year-old senior at Padua Academy, were both passengers inside a pickup truck driven by 18-year-old John Kirsch, also a student of Salesianum. The teenagers were in a 2005 Dodge Dakota eastbound on Strawberry Lane in Middletown. At the same time, a 52-year-old New Jersey man was driving a tractor trailer approaching the intersection of Strawberry Lane, driving northbound on US Route 301 Middletown Warwick Road.

This happened around 11:33 pm on Friday, March 11^th along Route 301 at Strawberry Lane, reported 6abc.

According to police and much to the dismay of Delaware County, PA truck accident attorneys, Kirsch tried to cross lanes, pulling directly into the tractor trailer’s path. The tractor trailer’s front side, then struck the Dodge Dakota’s right passenger side at the intersection. The tractor trailer fell over onto its left side as a result of the impact while the Dakota spun around.

Responding firefighters had to manually extract Brown, Muschiatti, and Kirsch from the vehicle. They were all taken to the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center. Later, Brown died from his injuries. Muschiatti is in critical condition while Kirsch is in serious condition.

The tractor trailer driver as well as his passenger, a 30-year-old woman from Middletown, Delaware, also suffered serious injuries. Both were taken to the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center. Officials have not yet revealed their conditions.

Officials are continuing to investigate the crash. Did someone run a red light? Did someone run a stop sign?

Dangers of Commercial Truck Accidents

Statistics show that truck drivers generally are significantly more careful on the road than automobile drivers. However, according to the US Department of Transportation, a total of 3,660 fatalities (531 motorcyclists, pedestrians, and cyclists) in 2014 were caused by large trucks which kept Delaware County, Pennsylvania truck accident lawyers awake at night. These accidents often are not the truck driver’s fault and unforeseen road hazards or the negligence of other drivers may be the cause of these accidents.

In addition, the freight the truck is carrying can make truck accidents worse as Delaware County, PA truck accident lawyers have seen before. For example, if a big rig involved in an accident has flammable or hazardous materials, such as industrial waste or gasoline, on board, that dangerous cargo can result in secondary injuries.

You saw this in Bad Boys when Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett were trying to protect a witness when leaving a club in haste while being pursued by organized crime members. They took a truck that had flammable materials. Luckily they did not blow themselves up when being shot at and did not hurt anyone else. They were able to use the flammable drums to blow up some of the criminals though on the Seven Mile Bridge which was a positive result. This truck involved accident was not an accident, it was intentional. But trucks like this make it even more vital their operators are careful on the roads.

Proving a Truck Accident Claim

As with most personal injury cases that involve vehicle accidents, "negligence" is the main legal theory of liability in truck accident cases. Therefore, a person injured in a commercial truck accident must show that:

• It is the duty of the defendant (trucking company, driver, etc.) to exercise a reasonable degree of care to avoid injury. The defendant owed that duty to the plaintiff under the circumstances.
• The defendant "breached" the duty of reasonable care, or in other words, failed to exercise such reasonable care. 
• The defendant's breach of the duty of reasonable care caused the injury suffered by the plaintiff.

If you or a loved one has been injured in any type of truck accident, or if you have lost a loved one in a truck crash, you need a Delaware County, Pennsylvania truck accident lawyer. You can get help to protect your rights and discuss your options for filing a truck accident claim and what this will entail. You can soon be on the right road to making yourself financially whole again.

If you have been a victim of a truck accident crash, go right here: Truck-Accident.USAttorneys. Digital technology has altered this world in more ways that can be counted. But here, right now, in this case, something has been created in the form of a website to help people find the legal help they need in a timely manner. And that is awesome!