Virginia family fights for stricter truck driving safety laws after disabled woman drops bike – NBC4 Washington

A Virginia family is fighting for stricter trucking safety laws after a woman nearly died when the tires on an 18-wheeler came off and crashed into her car.

However, the News4 I-Team found loopholes in motor carrier laws that allow the truck driver who failed to stop or report the incident to be held responsible for the damages.

“I lost everything,” said Sonja Tucker, a former IT specialist who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in the accident and can no longer work.

With medical bills mounting, her family is racing against time to find the truck owner before the statute of limitations for filing an insurance claim ends in July.

“Someone needs to be held accountable and responsible for this,” said her longtime partner Omar Rico.

Tucker doesn’t remember much about the afternoon accident on July 1, 2022. According to police reports, Tucker was driving toward Interstate 66 East when her tractor-trailer’s dual set of tires smashed into her windshield, causing her car to spin.

According to her family, Tucker suffered multiple broken bones and a brain hemorrhage. She remained in a coma for several weeks while Virginia State Police tried to locate the driver responsible for the accident.

According to VSP, there were no street cameras in use in the work area that day. The only video came from a local retailer’s surveillance camera, but the truck – later described by a witness to the accident as black and chrome – had no visible signage. The witness could not recognize the license plates.

Police say it’s impossible to know whether the driver – who was traveling on the opposite side of the highway – knew the wheel and tire hub assembly had broken off the trailer. Had the driver known the incident had caused an accident, he or she would have had to stop and notify authorities, police said.

However, the I-Team found that under current law there is no requirement for drivers to contact authorities if they discover potentially deadly equipment missing from their trucks after a trip.

“The way our laws are written, he’s not required to actually do anything,” said Sgt. Steve Vilbert, who inspects trucks traveling through the commonwealth as part of the Virginia State Police Motor Carrier Safety Unit.

Vilbert pointed out that the law only requires truck drivers to notify their supervisors or record the equipment problem internally.

Asked whether he thinks stricter reporting requirements would make a difference, Vilbert said: “Absolutely…It would help us close a lot of cases.”

Although recent reports indicate that nearly 6,000 people died in truck accidents in 2021, the accidents that happened to Tucker are extremely rare.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), accidents involving falling wheels or blown tires accounted for only 3.6% of all fatal accidents in 2021 and 4.4% of injury accidents that same year.

But the impact of such accidents can be devastating for families, noted Zach Cahalan of the nonprofit Truck Safety Coalition.

Cahalan said victims seeking compensation should not expect much compensation under current law. That’s because the minimum liability insurance a carrier must carry is $750,000, an amount that hasn’t increased since 1980.

“The average cost of an accident is $5 million … so the idea that $750,000 has never been increased, even because of inflation, is trite,” he said.

Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García, D-Illinois, is supporting a measure that would increase a motor carrier’s liability insurance to $5 million. He told the I-Team he would also support additional reporting requirements.

“I think this is very important. That is beyond the scope of this bill, but we should definitely look into it,” he said.

His measure is facing opposition — particularly from trucking associations such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the American Trucking Association (ATA), which have said there is little evidence that current insurance levels are inadequate.

In a statement, the ATA told News4, “Increasing the minimums would increase premiums for small trucking companies overall and will certainly drive many out of business, including those with excellent safety records.”

The statement continued: “Given that 96% of trucking companies in the country operate ten or fewer trucks, this would have a negative impact on the supply chain with no measurable safety benefit.”

OOIDA’s Collin Long told News4 that his organization supports stricter safety measures for truck drivers, such as mandatory behind-the-wheel training before becoming a professional driver. However, Long questioned the feasibility of increased reporting requirements for equipment failures.

“If someone brings us a suggestion, we’re happy to review it and consider its merits, but I think we have to exercise a little caution in doing so, simply because there are already systems in place within the U.S. Department of Transportation for this.” We’ve been trying for years improve,” he said.

In a statement to News4, the FMCSA said drivers are required to conduct inspections before and after every trip and document any issues with their company, adding that any issues “must be addressed immediately” before drivers get back on the road Street allowed.

The Tucker family is hoping anyone who saw something that day will come forward to police.

And while they are focused on Sonja’s physical recovery, the family said dealing with the emotional toll of losing Sonja is just as difficult.

“Sonja did everything right that you’re supposed to do,” said her mother, Renee Tucker. “Didn’t live beyond her means. “Always been able to support herself… Once she decided what she wanted to do, she did it, and the fact that she’s in this position right now…”

“That’s really unfair,” Sonja interjected and burst into tears.

“I don’t want my daughter to cry. I don’t want her to be upset. “That’s the last thing I want,” Renee Tucker continued. “But there has to be an answer to that. I just don’t want this to go away.”

According to VSP, anyone who witnessed this or other accidents can call the state’s emergency center at 7-7.

News4 photographers Lance Ing and Evan Carr and NBC Washington Bureau Producer Arielle Hixson contributed to this report.