Truck accidents can be far more devastating than vehicle accidents due to the sheer size of commercial trucks. This section looks at probable defendants, damages, and specific factors in truck accident cases.
Accidents involving huge commercial trucks bring several unusual scenarios and problems. Accidents with huge rigs can be deadly because of the significant contrast in size and the basic rules of physics. A typical fully loaded “big rig” can weigh 80,000 pounds or more, compared to the 3,000-pound weight of the average passenger car. Because of their massive size, heavy rigs have limited acceleration, braking, visibility, and turning capabilities.
Large vehicles, such as 18-wheelers, are prone to “jackknifing” under certain conditions, particularly while braking and turning sharply. This conduct may not result in liability for the truck driver when they jackknifed due to unexpected road conditions or made a sudden turn to avoid a motorist or other barrier.
Commercial trucks have trouble making certain curves as well. Right turns frequently necessitate the utilization of two lanes. Court judgments have been divided on whether drifting between lanes in such cases constitutes negligence.
Trucks are frequently driven on behalf of a trucking or shipping company by a driver. As a result, naming defendants in a truck accident may differ from identifying defendants in an accident involving another private motorist. Employers, contractors, transportation firms, and insurance companies may all be blamed for the driver’s carelessness. When the truck driver is an independent contractor or the truck is hauling hazardous products, questions about liability might become tricky.
Common Reasons for Truck Accidents
Aside from the dangers posed by commercial vehicles’ size and lack of maneuverability, various factors may contribute to collisions with other motorists. Some are the truck driver’s fault, while others result from typical mistakes made by other drivers. In all cases, the help of a car accident attorney is significant. You need help to deal with the upcoming personal injury claim. This is especially the case with truck accidents because they tend to be more complicated than the regular collisions involving passenger vehicles.
Truck drivers may pose a higher risk to other motorists if they have insufficient training, compensation systems that encourage more and faster driving, and unrealistic timetables that result in weary or rushed drivers.
Motorists who abruptly change lanes or merge improperly, make a left turn in front of a truck with insufficient space or move to the right of a car making a right-hand turn, or drive in areas behind and beside the truck where the driver has limited visibility, may increase their risk of an accident with a big rig. Wind turbulence may cause an automobile to pass a truck unexpectedly, and a delayed arrival into traffic may cause a truck to stop abruptly. Motorists’ additional hazards for truck drivers include vehicles abandoned on the roadside that give insufficient space, driving between heavy trucks, and dangerous passing.
