Trucks and other large-frame vehicle are a force to be reckoned with on the roads. They're big, heavy and, when moving quickly, cannot stop suddenly. This is not a problem so long as truck drivers follow the rules and observe common-sense safety measures, but unfortunately this isn't always the case.

Failure to take these precautions often results in truck accidents like the one that happened recently near Pittsburgh. According to police, a tractor-trailer driver got behind the wheel for a trip from Butler to Pittsburgh International Airport to Heidelberg with a blood-alcohol level of .086. In Pennsylvania, commercial drivers may have no higher a level than .002.

The driver, a 63-year-old Butler man, crashed into a utility pole. Authorities have said the route he had to take to strike the pole was unusual and they could not fathom why he had chosen to drive that way.

It is extremely fortunate that no one was injured in this incident. Frankly, that is likely an uncommon stroke of good luck. A truck like this operated by a driver who does not have his faculties is a very serious threat to others on the road. While it would be preferable if truck accidents never happened in the first place, that simply is not possible. Anyone who is hurt as the result of a truck drivers' negligence would do well to speak with a personal injury attorney. This attorney has likely worked with cases similar to yours before and will know how to go about helping you recover for injury-related expenses. If someone had been hurt in an instance like this it likely would not have been his or her fault that an accident happened.

Source: WTAE-TV, "Police: Drunken Truck Driver Takes Down Pole, Power Lines," 11 July 2011.