Emergency medical situations can, and do, occur at any time and in any place. As such, truckers and other motorists in New York, and other localities, may experience debilitating medical emergencies while they are behind the wheel. This type of situation could easily result in truck accidents, which may have devastating consequences for the truckers themselves, as well as those with whom they are sharing the road.
It appears that this may have been the case in a collision involving a tractor trailer and a charter bus that occurred in Upstate New York in June of 2015. Two passengers on the bus and the bus driver were reportedly killed in the crash. According to reports, the truck driver claims that he blacked out in the moments leading up to the wreck. He suggests that one of the arteries in his heart was 90 percent blocked, which caused him to lose consciousness. It was reported, however, that he had been screened and cleared to drive, and that he had a valid medical certificate on file at the time of the semi truck accident.
According to reports, the 56-year-old, veteran truck driver was taking medications for diabetes and his blood pressure before the truck accident. He claims to have taken them on the day of the crash. Initially, however, law enforcement reported that the man had told them he had run out of his medications before the collision.
When truckers do not address medical conditions, or when trucking companies allow truckers who are in poor health to operate vehicles, they may be held liable for the resulting damages. Thus, anyone who has been injured in a trucking accident may benefit from discussing their case with an attorney to understand their options for seeking compensation.
Source: The New York Times, “Truck Driver Says He Blacked Out Before Fatal Tour Bus Wreck,” Dec. 14, 2015