Truck drivers are often very highly trained professionals. To qualify for their licenses, they must pass strict testing, training, and licensing requirements. They also clock many miles on the roads, making them highly trained drivers. In many car accidents involving a truck, however, truck drivers are singled out for blame.
In some cases, bias may contribute to the problem. When a truck collides with a car, the passengers of the car are often seriously injured or killed. Fatalities in these types of accidents are frequent and where passengers do survive, they often face spinal cord injuries, whiplash, amputations, burn injuries, brain injuries, and other serious and potentially long-term injuries. They are often rushed to the hospital from the scene of the accident.
In many cases, injured passengers of cars are not extensively questioned at the scene of an accident because they are seriously injured. Since the truck driver is largely protected by the height of his or her cab and the size of his or her truck, the truck driver is often questioned at the scene and may not be seriously injured. Since the passengers of the smaller car are seriously injured, this can tip sympathy towards them and may obscure the mistakes made by a passenger car in an accident.
However, just because passengers are injured this does not mean that they are blameless of liability. In some cases, collisions between trucks and cars occur because the driver of a passenger vehicle was driving drunk, was texting while driving, was negligent, or was making significant mistakes. Many passenger vehicle drivers do not allow truck drivers the additional space that trucks require to stop and do not take care to avoid truck blind spots.
Although truck drivers are often protected from some personal injuries because of the size and height of their truck, they can and do sustain injuries due to accidents. Most truck drivers who have been in a trucking accident suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). While the accident is being investigated, drivers may lose income and may not be able to drive a truck until the investigation is concluded. The force of stopping the truck suddenly in a collision can throw truck drivers forward, which can lead to back injuries, whiplash and head injuries as well. In serious rollover accidents, truck drivers may be seriously injured or killed.
If a passenger vehicle driver has been driving negligently and has caused a trucking accident, both the truck driver and the trucking company can seek legal assistance in recovering damages from the accident. A good Florida personal injury attorney can help investigate the causes of an accident and can help the injured party get the resources they need to recover from the accident.