A New Mexico man has filed a semi-truck accident lawsuit against Russell Stover Chocolates LLC, Stone Truck Line Inc. and an individual driver based on an October 2018 collision in Deming, New Mexico.

Plaintiff Walter D.claims that he was operating his motorcycle in a legal manner, maintaining the right of way, when a commercial semi-truck driver hauling a a trailer with Russell Stover products made an unsafe left turn after failing to yield. The semi-truck driver then drove directly into the plaintiff’s lane of traffic, according to the plaintiff’s statements.

The semi-truck accident left the plaintiff with significant injuries, according to the lawsuit, including fractures of his left ulna and radius and left femur, a zygomatic fracture, a fracture of the orbital floor, multiple fractured ribs and a maxillary fracture. Additionally, the plaintiff states that he sustained a displaced fracture of his tibia, a fracture of the right femur and fractures affecting his face and nasal bones.

He was airlifted from the crash site to a level one trauma center in Texas and had to undergo multiple surgeries as a result of his severe injuries. The suit states that the plaintiff was placed in a medically induced coma for several weeks following the crash and later transferred to a skilled nursing facility.

In total, Walter D.’s hospital stay lasted for over three months. He says that he has incurred substantial past and future reasonable and necessary medical expenses in addition to past and future disfigurement, past and future physical and emotional pain and suffering, past and future loss of earning capacity and loss of vehicle.

Walter D. alleges that the commercial truck driver was responsible for causing the semi-truck accident and that the driver’s employer was responsible for appropriate hiring, training and supervision procedures that could have prevented the accident. The truck driver was cited for careless driving.

Serious truck accidents occur frequently on U.S. roads. According to CDLknowledge.com, in 2015 there were more than 415,000 crashes involving big trucks. Of those accidents, over 4,000 involved at least one fatality.

The size and weight of commercial trucks heightens the injury risk in a trucking accident. Due to the devastating toll a truck wreck can cause, there are many state and federal laws about how long truckers can be on the road and the types of licenses they must obtain. Despite these regulations, many trucking accidents can and do still happen.

If you or someone you know has sustained devastating injuries in a truck accident, you could be eligible to pursue compensation.

The Semi-Truck Accident Lawsuit is Case No. 2:19-cv-00945-CG-GJF, filed in the first judicial district court of Rio Arriba County.