Seffner Christian Bus Accident
Polk County, Florida. A bus carrying the Seffner Christian football team was involved in an accident on Interstate 4 near County Line Road. The team was headed to a game with Lakeland Christian. The accident happened as a tire blew on a truck next to the bus causing the truck to collide with the front corner of the bus. Thereafter, the bus driver was able to keep the bus under relative control without overcorrecting. This accident presented a significant risk of a rollover.
Photo by Sam Moorer
Photo by Will Beauchamp
While the outcome of this accident was very fortunate, there are plenty of accidents where the outcomes are much worse. An accident like this may have happened because of a lack of proper maintenance on the truck resulting in the blown tire. Truck tire blowouts are different than passenger car blowouts. The tread on truck tires are frequently replaced (commonly called a re-tread) whereas car tires are simply thrown away and replaced as a whole. The re-tread truck tire lowers the cost to truck owners but has a higher risk of blowouts, particularly if the re-tread is not performed correctly. In addition, truck tires typically take 100 psi of air pressure. Because of this fact and the weight that they carry, truck drivers are required by federal motor carrier regulations found at 49 CFR 300-399. Section 396.11 requires drivers to check the tires before every trip. Section 396..3 requires the trucking company, or motor carrier, to have a system for performing regular vehicle safety inspections. Both code sections require written records of the inspection. This is a major difference between a truck accident case and a car accident case.
When hiring a truck accident lawyer, you should hire a Lakeland truck accident lawyer with experience handling truck accidents. A consultation with a Lakeland truck accident attorney is free. Please click on the links above to read about our experience with truck accident cases. Also, please feel free to click on our case results for which a number of those cases have been semi-truck or tractor-trailer accident cases.
