Truck Accidents: A Fact of City Life

It can be like watching Disney’s hippo ballet cartoon – the way behemoth trucks deftly maneuver in and around the city’s narrow streets and alleyways. With salty tongues and steely nerves, the drivers careen along, expertly avoiding cars, pedestrians and obstacles — usually.

According to New York DMV statistics for 2011, the NYPD handled some 1,830 large truck crashes in 2011 alone, involving 26 fatalities, 1,157 injuries and 647 incidents of property damage.

• In March, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a dump truck in Brooklyn. According to a report in the New York Daily News, the woman, who walked with a cane, was crossing against the light and out of the crosswalk – but the driver could still face charges.

• The same month, an FDNY ladder truck crashed en route to a fire in Harlem. Six firefighters and five civilians were reportedly injured in the collision with an SUV.

• In June, a 66-year-old man in a wheelchair was nearly killed when a dump truck driver failed to see him in a Soho crosswalk. The victim was trapped under the truck for 30 minutes while rescuers worked to free his tangled clothing.

If you’re involved in a truck accident, call 911 right away to summon medical attention and police. Take cell phone photos before the vehicles are moved, and take note of witnesses, driver name, and the company that owns or operates the commercial vehicle. And be sure to contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible so that valuable evidence – including perishable electronic trucking records – can be preserved.