Trucking accidents cause devastating fatalities each year as well as serious injuries, including brain injuries, broken bones, amputations, burn injuries, and more. Although there are many possible reasons for truck accidents, some of the more common culprits include:
1) Rollovers. Since trucks are very top-heavy, they can easily rollover in a collision, causing more injuries than the collision itself. Driving on slopes, near ditches, and soft shoulders can also cause trucks to overturn easily, leading to a rollover. An uneven truck bed or poorly distributed loads can also make trucks liable to turn or roll over.
2) Crushing. If you are working on the hoist, it is essential to block the raised bed so that the bed does not crash down on top of you, crushing you.
3) Collisions. Driver error, speeding, and loss of control of the truck can all cause collisions with other trucks, cars, or inanimate objects.
4) Overloading trucks. Trucks that are carrying more than their maximum load are very dangerous on the roads. Overloading a truck strains the brakes and the tires, and may cause either of these two systems to fail. An overloaded truck is also harder to control, especially on hills. A trailer that is too heavily loaded can easily crash into the truck in front of it down hill or can cause the truck to lose control.
5) Backing. Experts claim that up to one fourth of all trucking accidents involve a driver backing up over an object or person. Unfortunately, trucks have many blind spots and it is important to check carefully to ensure that there is no one behind your truck when you are reversing.
6) Trailer load problems. Not loading a trailer correctly or not securing a load properly can cause objects to fall from the trailer, which can result in a traffic accident. As well, and incorrectly loaded truck is more difficult to control and this alone can cause an accident.
7) Shifting weight. If a truck has a load that is not securely tied down, the weight of the load will shift on swerves and turns. In poor weather conditions, especially, this can pave the way for loss of control of the vehicle. In some cases, shifting weight can lead to a rollover or a collision.
8) Mechanical failure. Trucks that have defects or are incorrectly maintained can easily malfunction on the road. Due to the size of trucks, a defect or mechanical failure on the road can be fatal to the drivers and passengers of nearby cars.