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Blown tire said to be the cause of fatal accident on I-10!

A woman was tragically killed and her husband seriously injured on I-10 in Suwannee County, near Live Oak, last Thursday afternoon, through apparently no fault of their own.

The cause of the fatal accident, according to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), was a blown tire on the pick-up truck traveling in the adjacent lane.  This is what the FHP said the chain of events was that caused the accident:

When the left front tire of the Ford F250 blew, the driver lost control of the pick-up and it veered left into the next lane, crashing into a car and sending that car into the path of a Mach truck heading in the opposite direction, killing a woman from Virginia who was the passenger in the car and seriously injuring her husband who was driving the car.

As an accident lawyer, my heart goes out to the family and friends of Shirley and Joseph Ricks, who apparently despite doing nothing wrong, even wearing their seatbelts, had their lives changed forever in a split second.  What is the lesson that we can learn from this terrible tragedy?

Most importantly, that this is another reminder for each and every one of us to routinely check our tires once a month. 

Sadly, what occurred on I-10 last week is a typical tire blow-out scenario... a tire blows on the freeway while going at high speeds, the driver then looses control of the vehicle, and crashes ensue. 

Some things that we can do to prevent a blow-out on our vehicles are outlined in this article. 

Be safe and make sure to check your tires monthly, it just might save your life or another's life.

It's Important to Learn How to Share the Road with Semis - A Heads up from an Ocala Truck Accident Lawyer.

With summer time in full swing and more of us on the Interstates, knowing how to share the road with semi-trailer trucks is an important part of highway safety. Too often, accidents occur between cars and trucks because of poor driving and lack of awareness.

This issue should not be taken lightly. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, car drivers made mistakes in 70 percent of fatal accidents involving trucks. The 1999 study, The Unsafe Driving Acts of Motorists in the Vicinity of Large Trucks, cited the most common mistakes motorists make while driving near trucks to be: not signaling lane changes, passing abruptly and driving too slow in the fast lane. The study also ranked Florida third for fatal truck accidents (California was #1; Texas was #2).

This news may be shocking to some but as an experienced Ocala truck accident attorney, I have handled many devestating accidents involving large trucks. Most truck drivers walk away without a scratch while motorists suffer severe injuries or death. It is important for all of us to learn how to share the road with trucks.