Oversized and Heavy Trucks Cause Accidents
Oversized and Heavy Trucks Cause Accidents
Truck drivers spend most of their time on the road and they have a couple of responsibilities when driving, particularly with regards to weight. In most instances, the truck driver is responsible for loading and unloading goods in the truck. Oversized and heavy trucks cause accidents on the highways.
However, the trucking industry is prone to malice and some companies will try to fit in as much load to the vehicle as possible, maxing out the weight limit. The chances of a truck accident in an overloaded vehicle are as much as three times greater than a truck within the required limits.
Oversized and Heavy Trucks Cause Accidents on Our Roads
The risk involved in driving large commercial trucks is that it is difficult to control the truck due to its heavy momentum. Also, most times, overloaded truck drivers will tend to drive faster to fulfill interests laid out by the trucking company. Such speeds make it easy to skid or lose control during a minor swerve.
How Does The Law Define A Truck?
Just to be cautious enough, it is crucial to know the exact definition of trucks since we’ll be going through an in-depth review of trucking accidents. The official definition of a truck as used by North Carolina authorities state that “a truck is any vehicle registered with a weight of 10,000 pounds or more.” This definition is broad and includes a wide range of vehicles such as:
- Box trucks
- Construction and industrial vehicles
- Tractor-trailers (semis, 18-wheelers, or big rigs)
- Garbage trucks
- Some emergency vehicles
- Specialty trucks
- Other large commercial vehicles
As you can see, quite a number of vehicles fall into this category and in this context, our definition of a truck will include all of them.
What Are The Causes Of Truck Accidents?
Just like any other vehicle accident, truck accidents occur due to a number of reasons. Here, we review the most common causes of trucking accidents, especially for North Carolina residents. We’ll look at details of each cause and possibly check the current statistics and data, if available.
Lack of proper control of a vehicle
Truck driving requires a skilled driver and there may be some instances when it becomes difficult to do this. First off, overspeeding makes it challenging to make the truck stop whenever an emergency occurs. Skilled truck drivers will notice whenever they exceed the speed limits as the truck often seems a bit “lighter” and easily swayed when you swerve. A flatbed truck is more likely to roll over when over speeding on a highway exit ramp.
Also, lack of truck control can be caused by jackknifing. In jackknifing, the truck part of the vehicle does not move in harmony with the front part and moves perpendicular to the driver’s section. This motion can cause serious accidents if other vehicles are on the way. In some rare instances, Jackknifing can cause the truck to stop and not necessarily cause a serious accident.
Finally, drunk and drugged driving can easily rob the truck driver’s ability to properly control the truck. Drugs and alcohol impair one’s judgment and are a common problem amongst truck drivers all over the United States. Since truck drivers go for long distances before reaching the destination, they are more likely to take stimulants to keep them awake.
Driver Inattention
Driver inattention is one of the major causes of truck accidents in North Carolina and has been reported to cause as much as 35 percent of all collisions and 37 percent of all fatal collisions. There are a couple of instances of inattention, let’s have a look.
- Screens and other in-truck distractions. It is wrong to text and drives as the second you take your eyes off the road, you add more risk of losing control, driving the wrong lane, and possibly causing an accident. But apart from using phones, anything that takes your hands off the wheel, mind, or eyes off the road is a serious distraction. It is easy to make a simple mistake when distracted and cause serious trucking accidents.
- Truck driving is typically a long-distance affair and the truck driver gets tired or drowsy at times. Driving a large truck requires full focus and attention, keeping the truck’s motion in check, and making sure you are aware of passenger vehicles passing through the blind spots.
Inability to give the right of way
There are often situations when two vehicles share the same stretch of road and it is contention between who should give way first. The tension is even much higher when large trucks are involved. The rule of thumb is that when one vehicle is larger than the other, the larger car should give way to the smaller passenger vehicles since they are more vulnerable to an accident.
However, most commercial truck drivers ignore this fact consequently causing heavy truck accidents. Below are some factors that cause accidents involving the inability to give way.
- If you have ever traveled across the I-85 stretch in Charlotte, NC, then you have been in one of the worst intersections of North Carolina. It is especially dangerous for heavy and large trucks due to its downhill nature making it difficult to control the vehicle when there are faulty brakes or transmission. In such cases, the truck driver will need to swerve across the other lane to avoid rear crashes which can get in the way of oncoming vehicles, risking the right of way.
- When there is traffic along roads that merge to highways, commercial drivers need to slow down until it is safe to join the highway lane. Heavy trucks need even more space, especially if they are on the highway and need to let other vehicles pass through. When not calculated properly heavy trucks on the highway or on-ramp may risk hitting smaller vehicles and turning them off the road.
- Blind spots. If you are a driver, then you are aware all cars have blind spots. But it is even larger in heavy trucks. Blind spots in trucks cover all four sides, so it is important to make sure the truck driver is able to see you. To know if you are in a truck’s blind spot, make sure you can see the driver through the rear mirrors. Otherwise, if you can’t, you are in their blind spot. It is easy to get fatal crashes if you are in a truck’s blind spot because when they change lanes, they won’t be able to see you.
Truck Drivers Miscalculating height clearance
Trucks are heavy vehicles and occupy a lot of space on the road. So, it is important for drivers to be careful when passing through bridges and overpasses on highways. However, North Carolina has recorded plenty of accidents involving such instances when drivers misjudge height clearance of large trucks although most are not fatal. Trucks still bear the damage and, in some cases, debris left in the path might cause secondary collisions.
Other causes of truck accidents in Charlotte, NC include:
- Tires burst from an overload of vehicle
- Neglected truck maintenance
- Excessive liquid carried in trucks may constantly shift the center of gravity
- Unfamiliarity with roadway
- Roadway issues
- Unqualified car drivers
Common Accidents Associated With Oversized And Heavy Trucks?
Oversized trucks create a lot of danger both to the passengers and other vehicles on the road. Accidents involving oversized trucks can be in a number of ways like:
Blown tires
Trucks have tires fitted to withstand a certain amount of pressure. When it is loaded with overweight materials, sometimes the pressure can be too much and the tires explode. Tire blowouts are quite dangerous as the driver loses control quite easily and risks a major commercial truck accident.
At high speeds, especially if the trucker is attempting to change lanes and suffers a blow out, this can lead to serious injury and serious property damage.
Rollovers
More often, overloaded trucks do not have the weight distributed properly in the truck. This can increase the chances of the vehicle rolling over due to a lack of proper control. Truck rollovers happen in steep lanes, sharp corners, and in conditions of high winds which affect the vehicle’s forward motion.
Although the FMCSA regulates and issues a DOT card to qualified drivers, prescription drug use, distracted driving and even illegal drugs can lead to accidents as a truck begins to loos control.
Rollovers will take up all the travel lane causing disruption for other motorists leaving a disabled vehicle completely across the roadway. Other drivers may panic creating rear end collisions with other passenger vehicle, delivery trucks, etc.
Jackknife accidents
At times when trucks come to a sudden stop, the brakes may not be effective due to their weight and the tractor-trailers can continue to move forward. It is a common mistake inexperienced car drivers make and can lead to serious accidents.
Jackknife crashes mostly occur at highway intersections or when there is a development of traffic. It is crucial to leave enough stopping distance for large trucks and the distance is even longer in trucks carrying oversized loads.
This same accident can result in t bone accidents and rear end crashes regardless of driver training and driving skills. These accidents can result in property damage and lost wages.
How Do I Get Compensation In A Truck Accident?
Truck accidents are mostly fatal and can leave multiple injuries to the victim. In some cases, the injuries are life-changing. You may have emotional injuries like PTSD, or other stress disorders due to truck accidents. It may also affect someone physically leaving you with disabling injuries and a ton of medical bills. Some serious injuries may lead to loss of work.
So, do you really get compensation if any of these things happen?
Compensation for large truck accidents will depend on a lot of things, but will most likely be available to you. It is crucial to know that truck accident attorneys are your best bet at helping you get compensation.
First off, all trucks are obliged to a certain amount of insurance in case an accident occurs due to driver error. The insurance for trucks and semi-trucks is usually higher because more fatal accidents are likely to occur due to truck crashes.
The federal law states that all trucking companies operating in interstate commerce on U.S roads need to have minimum liability coverage of $750,000 when moving non-hazardous goods. The amount goes further up if the truck is transporting dangerous or hazardous materials and can be well over $5 million in liability coverage.
Victims of truck accidents usually get compensation directly from the insurance company and in rare cases where the insurance company doesn’t seem to be compliant, the victim can claim against the trucking companies.
Depending on the outcome of the truck accident, there may be several types of compensation truck accident injury claims can cover. These include:
- Loss of future income
- Trauma or emotional injury (loss of quality life, PTSD, or other stress-related injuries)
- Medical expenses
- Damage to vehicle or property
- Continuing medical expenses
It is crucial to note that compensation is never guaranteed in all large truck accident cases. It has to be determined by the judge and the verdict depends on the circumstances and unique facts of the case.
How To Avoid A Commercial Truck Accident
Most of the time, truck accidents are caused by the drivers and we should agree that we can all play a part in reducing the number of truck accidents in North Carolina(including the trucking companies).
The goal is to reduce accidents involving passenger vehicle, vehicle occupants and especially tanker trucks.
That said, here are three important tips to keep in mind while driving large and heavy trucks.
Always drive at a safe speed despite the speed limit
Speed limits are placed on roads as general guidelines to follow. However, it may not cater to large-sized vehicles and certain driving situations. As long as you haven’t exceeded the speed limit, always drive according to how well you can control the truck. Keep in mind the vehicles, passers-by, passengers, and other drivers around you.
The motor carrier safety administration publishes guidelines relating to speed, unsafe passing and trucks involved in speed related accidents. Drivers approaching truck’s speed tend to have a higher chance for tire blowout. With this outcome, the driver will lose control and have a higher chance of hitting smaller vehicles or other motorists and potentially inflict catastrophic injury.
With a combination of high speeds and distracted driving serious property damage and serious injury can occur; even at normal highway speeds.
Heavy trucks need space
When driving large trucks, always remember that the larger the vehicle, the bigger the truck driver’s blind spot and the more potential for fatal accidents. Commercial truck drivers need to pay close attention to smaller cars who get in the blind spot easily and give them enough room to keep you both in a safe driving distance.
The gross vehicle weight rating will indicate increase room for acceptable stopping distances. By allowing increased stopping distances, truck crash with passenger car can be reduced.
Trucking Companies
Screen their drivers to ensure that they are in compliance with all federal rules.
Get Enough Rest First
It might seem impossible for a busy truck driver who works all week long to get some rest, but it is still important. Driving when you’ve not had enough rest can cause you to drive no different than a drunk driver. Yes, whenever you take your eyes off the road and worse, doze off, you are more likely to cause a fatal accident if on a busy road.
Call us at 980-239-2275 for a free case evaluation. It is important to remember that common unsafe acts committed by the trucking industry are regulated by the federal motor carrier safety administration.
Accidents are almost instant and all it takes is a few microseconds and you are in the wrong lane with an oncoming car at a high speed. So, get some rest after every shift or before starting a driving shift to avoid instances of dozing off the wheel. Generally, as long as you follow every Federal Motor Carrier Safety, you should be fine.
If you or your loved one is a victim of truck accidents and needs help, don’t hesitate to contact your top truck accident attorneys today. We will give a free quote, free case evaluation and make sure you get the rightful compensation. Call The Charlotte NC Car Accident Lawyers Group at 980-239-2275 today!
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