Dual Big-Rig Crash Closes Highway 99

What Happens When One Big-Rig Rear-Ends Another?

Imagine driving down a nearly empty highway, late at night, coming off a long driving trip. You feel tired, can’t keep your eyes open and decide to pull over to the shoulder and take a break. Now imagine suddenly feeling a forceful hit from behind, propelling you forward, causing injuries and damage to your and your vehicle, as well as any others involved.

Pulling over and parking on the shoulders of highways or freeways can be very dangerous. This was the case for two big rigs very early on June 30, 2015.Very early on Tuesday morning, while it was still dark out, a big rig was stopped on the shoulder of highway 99 near the Jensen Avenue exit in Fresno, California. The accident occurred when a second big rig, also traveling in the southbound direction, slammed into the stopped rig. Both drivers suffered injuries necessitating a visit to a hospital. The crash caused the rigs and their cargo to topple over all the lanes and it took several hours before the freeway was cleared of debris.

Thankfully no one else was injured in the accident. However, had someone been injured, in order to ascertain if they can receive compensation from someone, they would have to determine which of the big rig drivers was possibly negligent in causing the crash. Would it be the driver of the rig, which was stopped on the shoulder? Or perhaps it was the driver of the rig, which crashed into the first?