Virginia family fighting for tougher trucking safety laws after ‘wheel off' incident disabled woman

A Virginia family is fighting for tougher trucking safety laws after a woman nearly died when tires from an 18-wheeler broke off and crashed into her car.

But the News4 I-Team found gaps in motor carrier laws that make holding the truck driver, who didn’t stop or report the incident, accountable for the damages.

“I’ve lost everything,” said Sonja Tucker, a former IT specialist who suffered a disabling traumatic brain injury and from the crash and is now unable to work.

With mounting medical bills, her family is racing against time to find the truck owner before the statute of limitations to file an insurance claim ends in July.

“Somebody needs to be held accountable and responsible for this,” said her longtime partner, Omar Rico.

Tucker doesn’t remember much about the July 1, 2022, afternoon crash. According to police reports, Tucker was driving towards Interstate 66 East when the dual set of tractor-trailer tires smashed into her windshield and sent her car spinning.

According to her family, Tucker suffered several broken bones and a brain hemorrhage. She spent several weeks in a coma as Virginia State Police tried to locate the driver responsible for the crash.

According to VSP, there were no road cameras operating in the work zone that day. The only video came from a local retailer’s surveillance camera, but the truck — later described by a witness to the crash as black and chrome — had no visible signage. The witness didn't catch the license plate numbers.

Police say it’s impossible to know whether the driver — who was traveling on the opposite side of the interstate — was aware the wheel and tire hub assembly broke off the trailer. If the driver had known the incident caused a crash, he or she would be required to stop and notify authorities, according to police.

But the I-Team found there’s nothing under current law to require drivers to contact authorities if they discover potentially deadly equipment missing from their trucks following a trip.

“He doesn't have an obligation the way our laws are written to really do anything,” explained Sgt. Steve Vilbert, who inspects trucks traveling through the commonwealth as part of the Virginia State Police Motor Carrier Safety Unit.

Vilbert noted the law only requires truck drivers to notify their bosses or record the equipment issue internally.

Asked if he believes tougher reporting requirements would make a difference, Vilbert said, “Absolutely … It would help us close a lot of cases."

Though most recent reports show nearly 6,000 people died in truck-involved crashes in 2021, the kind that happened to Tucker are extremely rare.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), crashes caused by wheels falling off or tire blow outs accounted for just 3.6% of all fatal wrecks in 2021 and 4.4% of crashes that caused injuries that same year.

But the impact of such crashes can be devastating to families, noted Zach Cahalan with the nonprofit Truck Safety Coalition.

Cahalan said victims trying to collect for damages shouldn't expect a big pay out under current law, either. That's because the minimum liability insurance a carrier has to maintain is $750,000, a figure that hasn't been increased since 1980.

“The average crash cost is $5 million … so the idea that $750,000 has never been increased, not even for inflation, is bananas,” he said.

Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García, D-Ill., is sponsoring a measure that would increase a motor carrier's liability insurance to $5 million. He told the I-Team he would also support additional reporting requirements.

“I think that's very important. That's beyond the scope of this bill, but certainly something we should look at,” he said.

His measure is facing opposition — mostly from trucking groups like the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) and the American Trucking Associations (ATA), which has said there’s little indication the current insurance levels are inadequate.

In a statement, the ATA told News4, “Raising minimums would increase premiums for small trucking businesses across the board and is certain to put many out of business, including those with excellent safety records.”

The statement continued, “Considering that 96% of trucking companies in the country operate 10 trucks or fewer, this would have an adverse impact on the supply chain without any measurable safety benefit.”   

The OOIDA’s Collin Long told News4 his organization supports stronger safety measures for truck drivers, like mandatory behind the wheel training before one can become a commercial driver, but Long questioned the feasibility of increased reporting requirements for equipment failures.

“If someone brings us a proposal, we're happy to vet that and consider its merits, but I think we need to put a little bit of caution into that, simply because there are already systems in place at the U.S. Department of Transportation that we have been trying to improve for years,” he said.

In a statement to News4, the FMCSA said drivers are required to complete inspections before and after each trip and document any problems with their company, adding any issues “must be corrected immediately" before drivers can get back on the road.

The Tucker family hopes someone who may have seen something that day will reach out to police.

And while they focus on Sonja's physical recovery, the family said navigating the emotional toll of what Sonja lost is just as difficult.

“Sonja did all the right things that you're supposed to do,” her mother, Renee Tucker, said. “Didn't live above her means. Was always capable of supporting herself … Once she decided what she wanted to do, she accomplished it, so the fact that she's in this position right now …"

“It’s really unfair,” Sonja interjected, breaking down in tears.

“I don't want my daughter crying. I don't want her upset. That's the last thing I want,” Renee Tucker continued. “But there's got to be an answer to this. I just don’t want this to disappear.”

According to VSP, anyone who witnessed this or other crashes can call the state's emergency communication center by dialing #7-7.

News4 photographers Lance Ing and Evan Carr, as well as NBC Washington bureau producer Arielle Hixson, contributed to this report.