Truck Accident Lawyer News

METAIRIE, La – A semi tractor trailer truck crashed into a highway overpass Friday afternoon, September 3, in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The truck accident happened in the city of Metairie, LA when the driver was attempting a U-Turn on the south service road for Interstate 10. The accident area is just west of the New Orleans metro region in the far southeast corner of the state, about 74 miles southeast of Baton Rouge, LA and about 148 miles southwest of Mobile, Alabama.

At around noon Friday 54 year old Timothy Weckerlin of Hawk Point, Missouri was driving a semi trailer truck east on Interstate 10 in Jefferson County, LA. The trailer of the 18 wheeler had the logo for Aurora Trailer Leasing & Rental, a national trucking company based in St. Louis, MO. It is not known if the driver was working for the company or had leased the truck. The cargo he was carrying and his destination was also not released to the public.

As he traveled through the city of Metairie he got onto the I-10 south service road where he planned to make a U-Turn at Bonnabel Boulevard. The U-Turn is legal at that spot however in the past some trailer trucks have had difficulty clearing the overpass for I-10 when making the turn.

According to police, Mr. Weckerlin pulled onto the service road and was making the U-Turn on Bonnabel Blvd when he crashed into the I-10 overpass above. When the semi truck collided with the bridge the impact separated the trailer section of the truck from the cab section. The trailer section, which had scraped the roof of the underpass, reportedly became stuck under the bridge blocking the traffic lanes.

No other persons or vehicles were involved in the truck accident.

Officers with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Department responded to the truck accident scene along with local emergency personnel. The truck driver was apparently not injured in the collision and did not require hospitalization.

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Authorities shut down a section of the service road around the wedged semi trailer truck, rerouting traffic to nearby secondary roads. According to officials the company that owned the truck was sending employees to offload the cargo in the trailer to a new truck. Once the disabled semi truck was empty it would be towed from the interstate service road’s traffic lanes.

The trailer truck was still blocking the road more than five hours after the truck accident, causing delays in the Friday afternoon commuter rush as well as for drivers traveling for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The Louisiana State Police officers also responded to the site and were reconstructing the single truck accident. Officials with the LA State Department of Transportation and Development inspected the trailer truck for mechanical problems however the semi appeared in good working order.

Authorities determined that the truck accident was caused by driver error and Mr. Weckerlin was charged with “Careless Operation of a Vehicle”. It is not known at this time if other charges will be brought against the driver or the trucking company.

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For more information about Louisiana trucking laws, truck injury causes and victims rights, contact a nationwide truck accident attorney at Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP for expert advice. For a free initial consultation, talk to a Louisiana truck accident lawyer at 800.773.6770.

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