Georgia Injury Attorney Blog
An Alabama truck driver was severely injured in May 2009 while loading massive steel coils, weighing about 10 tons, onto a flatbed trailer for the steel company, Olympic Steel, Inc.
Instead of laying the coils flat as requested by McGhee, they were loaded vertically upright as preferred by the customer. Before McGhee could chain them in place, they tipped over and fell onto him. Both his legs were crushed, and his right leg had to be amputated.
McGhee filed a lawsuit against Olympic Steel and several of its employees, claiming their negligence caused his injuries. He argued they should have laid the coils down flat on the trailer bed, which would have eliminated the risk of them tipping over. He also alleged that the crane used to load the coils had worn brakes and an inept operator, which contributed to the accident. The defendants agreed to settle the case for $6 million.
Read more about types of truck accidents here.