MassLive.com reports a tractor trailer accident that occurred on Thursday, January 5 after 9:30am in Charlton, Massachusetts. According to police, a 61 year-old man was operating a Kia Optima on Route 20. He slowed down to turn off of the route close to Sullivan Road when he was rear-ended by a Freightliner tractor trailer. The driver of the Kia was transported to UMass Medical via helicopter with serious injuries. Police charged the driver of the truck with failure to use care in stopping and following too close. Authorities shut down Route 20 for 2 hours to investigate the crash.

WSAZ.com reports a fatal semi truck accident that occurred on Monday afternoon, January 9 in Pike County, Kentucky. According to representatives of the State Police, a semi truck encountered a curve on U.S. 460 near the area of Millard. The driver of the truck was unable to negotiate the curve properly. The truck crossed over the line into oncoming traffic and struck a minivan. A 57 year-old male driver of the van and a 55 year-old female passenger were killed.

The Bradenton Patch reports an accident involving a bus and a tractor trailer on Thursday afternoon, January 5 in Manatee County, Florida. According to the Florida Highway Patrol and various school employees, a school bus from the district of Manatee County rear-ended a tractor trailer after the driver become distracted by a piece of paper being handed to a student. Twenty-three students were transported to local hospitals after the accident. The bus driver received a citation for careless driving.

The Athens Patch reports a tractor trailer accident that injured one person on Saturday, January 7 in Athens, Georgia. A 2001 Ford Escort was traveling north on Ila Road when a 2006 Peterbilt truck turned from the southbound lanes and struck the Ford. The driver of the car suffered injuries and was taken away from the scene of the accident by emergency medical crews. Authorities cited the 74 year-old driver of the big rig for Failure to Yield Right of Way Turning Left.

The Ohio News Network reports a dump truck accident that occurred on Wednesday evening, November 2 in Fort Wright, Kentucky, near the Ohio River. A 61 year-old man from Batavia, Ohio was killed when a dump truck struck his vehicle on an overpass. The man’s car was hit with such force that it went over a concrete barrier and plummeted approximately 50 feet off the bridge. The car landed upside down on its roof. The driver of the dump truck was trying to avoid a construction area on Interstate 275 when the accident took place.

WISHtv.com reports a box truck accident that occurred on Friday, November 4 around 7:45pm in Indianapolis, Indiana. Representatives of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police say that a 65 year-old man was struck and killed by a box truck as he exited a bus at the corner of 50^th Street and Michigan Road. The driver of the box truck received a blood test for drugs and alcohol. Police report that there were two other individuals inside the box truck when the accident took place.

The Watauga Democrat reports a tractor-trailer accident that occurred on Thursday, November 3 at 10:00am in Vilas, North Carolina. According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the accident happened on U.S. 421 as six vehicles stopped near the B & B Mini Mart for a vehicle making a left-hand turn. A Reinhart Food Service tractor-trailer struck the last vehicle, a Dodge Ram pickup truck, causing a chain-reaction accident. A driver and passenger inside the Dodge were airlifted to Tennessee’s Johnson City Medical Center. Four other people were hurt and taken to a local hospital for treatment. Two pet dogs inside one of the vehicles were taken to a veterinarian for injuries. The 37 year-old male driver of the semi truck received a citation for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

The Loganville-Grayson Patch reports a tractor-trailer accident that occurred midday on Friday, November 4 in Loganville, Georgia. A spokesperson for the Georgia State Patrol said the truck and a SUV collided on Highway 78 near a convenience store. According to witnesses, the truck struck the SUV in the left rear as the SUV proceeded at a green light. One adult and three minors were injured. An 11-year old girl was transported by air to Egleston Children’s Hospital.

WLWT.com reports a box truck accident that occurred on Monday, October 3 around 1:35pm in Vevay, Indiana. The driver of a box truck said he was distracted by an insect when he struck a parked police cruiser on Highway 56 at Maple Street. Two officers performing a routine traffic stop were hit by the box truck. One officer was thrown approximately 20 feet. He was airlifted to University Hospital in Cincinnati. The other officer was treated for minor injuries at King’s Daughters Hospital in Madison, Indiana. Switzerland County Sheriff’s Office will assist with the investigation.

The Denver Channel reports a waste truck accident that occurred on Monday, October 3 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. According to police, a truck operated by EDS Waste Solutions had an unsecured latch that leaked waste onto Interstates 70 & 76 for half of a mile. The slick hazard resulted in two motorcycle accidents and numerous car accidents on I-70 at Ward Road. The State Patrol also said a crash on I-76 was the result of the waste as well. Seven people were taken to the hospital after the accidents. The driver of the waste truck received two citations for spilling a load and causing injury. He has previously pled guilty to driving an overweight load.

The Daily News reports a semi truck accident that took place on Friday, September 30 at 7:49am in Le Roy, New York. According to representatives from the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, the driver of a 2008 Mazda slowed on Route 19 North to turn left onto Griswold when the driver of a 2005 Mack tractor trailer rear-ended the Mazda. The semi truck then hit a 2006 Impala traveling on Route 19 South. The rig overturned, caught fire and came to a rest in a bystander’s front lawn. The Impala driver was airlifted to Strong Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. A driver & passenger inside the Mazda were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the semi truck also sustained internal injuries as a result of the crash.

The Courier Press reports a tractor trailer accident that injured three people on Thursday, September 29 at 5:40pm in Union County, Kentucky. According to representatives of the Kentucky State Police, the driver of a tractor-trailer ran a red light at the intersection of U.S. 60 and a bypass. The big rig struck a 2007 Chevy Impala traveling on U.S. 60 West. Two occupants of the Impala were transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Evansville. A third occupant of the Impala was listed in fair condition at Deaconess Hospital.

TheSpectrum.com reports that a nine-month-old girl died and three other children were injured when a garbage truck rolled onto a charter school van in Cedar City, Utah. The van driver also suffered multiple trauma injuries in the truck wreck. A police spokesman said one of the vehicles may have run a red light. A blood sample was taken from the garbage truck driver, who was not seriously injured. This fatal truck accident happened at 12:35 p.m. on Monday, December 6, at the intersection of Minersville Highway and 3000 North.

DNAinfo.com reports that a 21-year-old man was hit and killed by a dump truck while crossing Madison Avenue at 81st Street in New York City, New York. The community college student was in the crosswalk, headed to his morning job at a bakery, when he was struck by the truck, owned by a Brooklyn-based carting company. Police said the driver dragged the body 30 feet before stopping; he was not expected to be charged but may be issued a summons. This fatal truck accident happened at 6:06 a.m. on Tuesday, December 7.

Lex18.com reports that a tractor-trailer rear-ended a pickup truck on the Bluegrass Parkway in Lexington, Kentucky, injuring three people in the pickup. Both the 18-wheeler and the pickup were traveling westbound when the semi struck the pickup. The big-rig driver, who was not injured, then crossed the median into eastbound lanes but did not hit any other vehicles. This truck accident happened near the Versailles exit at around 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, December 9.

Goerie.com reports that a dump truck driver hit an SUV, injuring the elderly driver and passenger, then crashed into a hair salon in the 9500 block of Peach Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. The driver lost control of the truck, owned by an excavation company, while downshifting as he headed toward a stopped vehicle in the southbound lane. He then crossed into oncoming traffic. The SUV’s occupants were treated at a hospital and later released; the hair salon was not open for business at the time. The truck driver was not injured. Police said charges are pending in this truck accident, which happened on Thursday, December 9, at around 9:30 a.m.

WTOP.com reports that a child was injured when a contractor’s truck crashed into a school bus carrying elementary school students near Emmitsburg, Maryland. A spokesman for the school district said the wreck occurred when a ladder attached to the top of the truck broke off and smashed into the rear emergency exit of the bus. This truck accident happened at the intersection of Main Street and Creamery Road on Thursday, December 9, at 3:35 p.m.

WNDU.com reports that a big-rig driver faces criminal recklessness charges after he caused a fatal accident in Indianapolis, Indiana. Police said the 18-wheeler ran a red light and hit a van, killing the driver instantly. Two passengers, who had to be extricated from the vehicle, were hospitalized. The semi driver refused to take a breathalyzer at the scene of the truck wreck and was arrested. This fatal truck accident happened at the intersection of 236th Street and US 31, north of Indianapolis, on the morning of Friday, December 10.

KIONRightNow.com reports that a semi truck backed over two workers in a lettuce field in Salinas, California, killing one of them, on Monday morning, October 18. The other man was hospitalized. The truck was delivering cardboard boxes to the field where the men were working. Both victims were wearing bright yellow vests meant to prevent just this kind of deadly truck accident.

WKYT.com reports that one person died in a fiery truck wreck involving a coal truck, a dump truck, and a cargo van. The accident happened on Wednesday, October 20, on Highway 80, west of London, in Laurel County, Kentucky. Police called it an “opposite direction side-swipe,” saying the cargo van side-swiped the dump truck, then smashed head-on into the coal truck, which caught fire, rolled down an embankment, and started a small forest fire. The van driver died, and the two other drivers were taken to local hospitals.

NJ.com reports that a driver was killed in an eight-vehicle truck wreck on the New Jersey Turnpike on Wednesday, October 20. Two big rigs, a dump truck, a box truck, a pickup truck, and three cars were involved in the crash, which happened south of interchange 13A in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The disaster began when a big rig driver failed to stop for slowing traffic and ran into the pickup, pushing it into two other tractor-trailers. The pickup burst into flames and its driver died as the crash kept pushing forward, involving more and more vehicles. At one point, traffic behind the truck wreck was snarled for 12 miles.

DetNews.com reports that a University of Michigan student died in a freak truck accident on Friday, October 22, in Detroit.  She was driving north on the M-39 near Curtis at about 2:30pm when the axle of a tanker truck heading the opposite direction broke. Two linked tires came off and hit another big rig before they bounced over the median and hit the victim’s car. She died at the scene.

SouthBendTribune.com reports that a semi-truck driver died early Saturday, October 23, after his truck hit another tractor-trailer in South Bend, Indiana. The first truck burst into flames soon after rear-ending the other big rig, which had been slowing for traffic on the Indiana Toll Road not far from the South Bend/Notre Dame exit. The rear-ended driver and his passenger were unharmed in the truck accident.

DesMoinesRegister.com reports that a dump truck hit and killed a man in a wheelchair at 8am Monday, October 25. The fatal truck accident happened at the intersection of Maury Street and Southeast 14th Street, near downtown Des Moines, Iowa. The driver said he’d failed to see the victim, who’d been crossing the street when he was killed.

MineralWellsIndex.com reports that a tractor-trailer veered into the median then crashed on U.S. Highway 281 in Santo, Texas, causing a second truck to crash into it and injuring the drivers of both vehicles. Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety report that the driver of the big rig may have fallen asleep behind the wheel before crashing his vehicle. No citations have yet been issued in the truck crash, but the TDPS is continuing its investigation.

The Messenger reports that a tractor-trailer struck a pickup truck on Pennyrile Parkway near Madisonville, Kentucky, killing the driver of the tractor-trailer and injuring two passengers in the pickup truck. Kentucky State Police investigators state that the pickup truck was stopped along the shoulder of the roadway while the driver consulted a map at the time of the truck crash. Investigators did not know why the tractor-trailer was driving on the shoulder of the road. The condition of the two passengers from the pickup truck is unknown at this time.

The Banner Graphic reports that a semi truck crashed into a passenger vehicle on Veteran’s Memorial Highway in Greencastle, Indiana, injuring the 19-year-old driver of that vehicle and sending her to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. The Greencastle Police Department responded to the scene and supervised cleanup of spills from the crash. The truck crash is still being investigated.

The Western Star reports that a semi-truck swerved in front of a passenger vehicle on Interstate 71 at the 36 mile marker near the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge in Lebanon, Ohio, causing the passenger vehicle to swerve, roll over and crash on the median and resulting in the hospitalization of the vehicle’s 23-year-old female driver. Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol cited the driver of the semi-truck for an unsafe lane change.

NorthWest Herald.com reports that a semi-trailer crossed the center line on Route 14 near Harvard, Illinois, causing a motorist travelling in the opposite direction to have to swerve at which point that vehicle collided head-on with a second semi-trailer. The driver of the passenger vehicle was killed instantly in the crash. The driver of the first semi-trailer left the scene. Investigators with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Crash Investigations Unit are seeking that driver for questioning.

CBN.com reports that a semi-truck crashed up and over the front of a van carrying a church group on Highway 92 near Williamsburg, Kentucky, sending a pastor, his wife and several young people to area hospitals. Kentucky State Police are continuing their investigation of the truck accident that left the church van totaled and sent seven people to the hospital.

KPTV.com reports that a semitrailer and a passenger vehicle collided on I-5 near Seaside, Oregon leaving the driver of the passenger vehicle with extensive injuries. Washington State Patrol troopers responding to the scene initially reported that the passenger vehicle rear-ended the semitrailer, but the driver of the passenger vehicle disputes that claim. The driver states that the semitrailer cut him off and that his vehicle was sucked up under the semitrailer and dragged 400-600 yards down the interstate. Paramedics arrived on the scene and rushed the man to the hospital. Due to the conflicting accounts of the truck crash, Washington State Patrol investigators are continuing to investigate.

Fox8.com reports that a tractor-trailer rear-ended a passenger vehicle on State Route 5 at Burnett Road in Braceville, Ohio, killing 3 Ohio Marine Corps recruits who were on their way to take their entrance exam in Cleveland. Two other passengers in the car were transported to local hospitals where their conditions are unknown. This truck crash is still under investigation.

Kentucky.com reports that an out-of-control tractor-trailer struck and killed two roadside workers at the intersection of U.S. 460 and KY 1499 in Pike County, Kentucky. The workers were part of a tree-trimming crew working in the area. Kentucky State Police have charged the driver of the truck with two counts of reckless homicide as well as not having a valid driver’s license, not having a commercial driver’s license, having a radar detector in a commercial vehicle and not updating the log of his work hours.

BangorDailyNews.com reports that a tractor-trailer slammed into the back of a Maine Department of Transportation vehicle parked behind a road maintenance crew as protection on I-95 near Island Falls, Maine. The driver of the parked vehicle was injured and taken to a nearby hospital. Maine State Police are continuing their investigation of this truck accident.

MonroeNews.com reports that a 2006 International box truck rear-ended a passenger van on I-75 near Sterns Road in Erie Township, Michigan, leaving four people in the van injured including three children. Michigan State Police report that the driver of the box truck may have fallen asleep while driving. He was cited for careless driving. A third vehicle struck the box truck following the initial crash and burst into flames, which spread to the box truck and required the efforts of two local fire departments to extinguish.

Mlive.com reports that a semi-truck lost control and slammed into a passenger vehicle on Wilson Avenue SW in Walker, Michigan, killing the driver of the passenger vehicle. Three other vehicles were involved in the truck wreck, which started when the semi-truck rear-ended a pickup, sending it into oncoming traffic. The driver of the pickup was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released. Local and Michigan State law enforcement officials are continuing to investigate this big rig crash.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a semi rear-ended a passenger vehicle on the southbound Dan Ryan Expressway near 63rd Street in Chicago, resulting in a multi-vehicle crash involving a second semi. The second semi caught fire after smashing into the first two vehicles involved in the crash. According to Illinois State Police officials, 4 people were hurt in the truck accident.

Appalachian New-Express reports that a gravel truck was going too fast for road conditions when it crashed into a school bus full of middle school children on U.S. 460 Near Millard, Kentucky. More than 30 children and the driver of the bus were taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries from the truck crash. Kentucky State Police officials indicate that in addition to traveling at excessive speed, the gravel truck may also have had brake issues that contributed to the crash.

WHNT.com reports that an 18-wheeler smashed into a state vehicle that was repairing potholes on Alabama State Highway 565 near Huntsville. The semi flipped onto its side after crashing into the state vehicle, unloading 40,000 pounds of paper onto the roadway. Police at the scene tested the truck driver’s alcohol level and arrested him when it was found to be above the legal limit. He was charged with DUI and Reckless Endangerment. Minor injuries were sustained in the truck accident.

The Denver Post reports that a semi jackknifed on I-80 near Wamsutter, Wyoming, setting off a chain of other accidents involving at least 20 vehicles and leaving one person dead and at least six others hospitalized. As many as 100 vehicles were wrecked or stranded on 1-80, unable to move past the accident site. Stormy conditions left roadways in the area slick and fogbound, and Wyoming Highway Patrol officials are investigating whether the driver of the truck was traveling too fast for those conditions.

The Baltimore Sun reports that a tractor-trailer drove into the path of a light rail train, causing the train to crash into the truck. The truck accident happened at the 10900 block of Gilroy Road in Cockeysville, Maryland. The driver of the train was being treated at the Maryland Shock and Trauma Center and was reported in serious but stable condition. The driver of a passenger vehicle which was traveling behind the tractor-trailer and was damaged in the crash was treated at the scene. Baltimore County police report that while their investigation of the wreck is ongoing, initial indications are that the tractor-trailer driver is at fault for the truck crash.

The victims were part of a church group consisting of men, women and children travelling in an 18-passenger van believed to be a church vehicle. They were heading north on I-65 when a tractor-trailer heading south crossed the highway median and struck the van head-on. In the fiery aftermath of the big rig wreck, emergency crews identified the driver of the truck and several passengers in the van as fatalities. Some initial reports place the number of dead as high as 11.

Early reports from first responders to the scene give no indication of what caused the tractor-trailer to cross the median; however, the accident occurred at 5:30 a.m., which may mean the driver was operating his vehicle without proper rest. In my experience, every truck accident has a cause. It now falls to investigators, law enforcement officials and qualified attorneys to help discover the cause of this accident so that justice may be served and also so that anything learned may be used to help prevent similar events in the future.