Articles Posted in Trucking Accidents

18-wheeler trucks are huge commercial vehicles that can cause many serious personal injuries and a great deal of damage in trucking accidents. The sheer size and force of these trucks makes them a danger in accidents. According to statistics, 5,000 fatalities and 115,000 personal injuries are caused by truck accidents involving 18-wheelers each year. These trucks weigh up to 70 tons when fully loaded, so when a collision occurs between such a vehicle and a passenger vehicle, fatalities and serious injuries are almost always the result.

Claims and legal issues surrounding 18-wheeler trucks can also be quite complicated. For this reason, it is often a good idea to get legal advice from a Florida attorney soon after any accident involving an 18-wheeler truck. There are many reasons why accidents involving 18-wheeler trucks present special challenges:

1) These trucks are often owned by out-of-state companies. This can complicate legal issues and can make it harder to establish jurisdiction in some cases, especially as rules vary from state to state.

Truck accidents are caused by many factors, and while drivers of passenger vehicles are not always to blame for truck accidents and resulting personal injury, trucks sharing the roads with much smaller vehicles does pose some unique challenges. If you drive a passenger vehicle, you can do your part to prevent truck accidents by:

1) Driving behind or in front of a truck. Lingering next to a truck is a bad idea, since this is where trucks have many blind spots. If you can, pass a truck or drive well behind a truck. Keep in mind that trucks have large blind spots behind their trailers as well, so give yourself extra room. Maintain at least a four second distance, and more than that in bad weather or poor visibility.

2) Slowing down when a truck passes you. When a larger vehicle passes you, dirt and water from the truck’s tires can spray up at you. If the truck is traveling quickly and you have a low-slung car, especially, much of your windshield could be covered in dirt. Obviously, this problem is worse in bad weather when mud and rain create more muck for the truck to churn up. If a truck is passing you, slow down slightly and be prepared to use your windshield wipers in case you are momentarily blinded.

Loading docks are a workplace filled with people and trucks. Occasionally, a bad truck accident takes place on the loading dock. In almost all cases, these accidents are completely preventable if employees do the following:

1) Drivers should avoid walking in front of lift trucks. Although it seems obvious, truck drivers are sometimes so used to lift trucks that they do not use due caution around them. Drivers should always be careful when entering or exiting their truck cab.

2) Drivers should check for lift trucks before pulling away. Once again, this seems obvious, but familiarity breeds a casual attitude that can lead to truck accidents and pedestrian accidents. Drivers should walk around their vehicle to make sure the lift truck is not still in the trailer. Once in the cab, drivers should carefully check blind spots before pulling away.

Highways are where many drivers share the road quite frequently with trucks. Unfortunately, the sheer mass of a truck combined with the speed of highway travel can make any truck/car accident devastating to the passengers of a passenger car. These passengers are almost certain to sustain serious personal injury. Luckily, there are many things drivers can do to prevent trucking accidents:

1) Stay out of truck blind spots. The blind spots on a tractor trailer can be large. Any time you cannot see the driver’s face in his mirror, you are likely in the truck’s blind spot. Lingering there can be fatal. Avoid driving alongside a truck. Pass rapidly or drop back. Since trucks are long, it can take some time to pass them. Keep this in mind if you are attempting to pass a truck. The blind spot on a truck’s left side is much smaller, so where possible pass on the left.

2) Slow down if a tractor trailer is too close behind you. Many drivers are tempted to speed up if a truck is tailgating them but this can be the wrong thing to do. By law, a tractor trailer should leave 400 feet between your vehicles, but if a truck follows too close, what you most need is extra room. By slowing down, you increase the space between you and the vehicle in front of you. If a car stops suddenly in front of you due to a tire defect, rollover, or other problem, you have room to maneuver out of the truck’s way. If you don’t leave yourself room, there is no where to go and the truck will roll right into you if you have to stop suddenly.

Hyster Company has researched pedestrian accidents involving lift trucks and has found that these accidents are very frequent (even though they are quite avoidable). The researchers also found that such accidents have a high rate of serious personal injury and fatalities. According to the Hyster study, there are many ways to significantly reduce lift truck pedestrian accidents:

1) Maintain lift truck visibility. Signs indicating that construction is in progress can help pedestrians see and avoid lift trucks. In addition to signs, however, reflectors on the trucks can increase visibility in the dark and in bad weather. Audible warning devices are also useful in showing pedestrians that a lift truck is nearby.

2) Train pedestrians. Pedestrians do have a responsibility to avoid these trucking accidents. In some cases, pedestrians ignore or miss warning signs and walk into construction areas or the path of lift trucks. Even employees of a construction site will sometimes not use due diligence in avoiding lift trucks.

Today light trucks such as pickup trucks are so popular among customers that many people do not even consider whether they should in fact drive a truck. Trucks are not the ideal vehicle for everyone. You might not want to drive a truck if:

1) You do not check blind spots carefully. Trucks – even smaller trucks – have more blind spots than passenger vehicles and you need to be willing to check these carefully. You need to be scanning these areas all the time to prevent car accidents and pedestrian accidents. Since mirrors alone are often not enough, you will need to actually turn your head to look. If you are uncomfortable with blind spots or not careful about checking them, a truck is probably not for you.

2) You drive when tried or under the influence. Even smaller trucks can cause serious personal injury and harm – more so than smaller passenger vehicles, in some cases. If you drive under the influence or when fatigued, stay off the roads.

Although the truck accidents that make the evening news are often crashes involving tractor trailers and larger 18-wheeler trucks, pickup trucks and other smaller trucks are very popular and can cause serious accidents as well. Many people who drive pickup trucks and such smaller trucks often treat their vehicles as regular passenger vehicles, when in fact these light trucks do pose a danger. If you own a light truck, you can avoid car accidents by:

1) Using extra caution in parking areas. Pickup trucks are larger, so smaller parking spaces can easily pose a problem. It is quite easy to bump into another car or even cause a pedestrian accident when backing into a small spot. Look for parking spaces that offer extra room – spots further from the store usually are less crowded – and ease into a spot.

2) Loading carefully. Pickup trucks and other light trucks have load limits for a reason. Overloading your truck can cause tire damage and rollover accidents. When loading your truck, make sure that you tie down everything securely. If things move around the back of your truck, it can be distracting. It can also cause the weight of your vehicle to shift, posing a rollover hazard. If you need to transport something that does not quite fit into your truck, tie it down very securely and tie a flag to the end of the object to alert other drivers. You do not want something bumping into another car or flying off the back of your truck.

Drivers of passenger vehicles can do many things to prevent truck accidents. While not all trucking accidents are car-truck collisions, drivers of passenger vehicles do often make mistakes on the road which can cause a truck to lose control and veer off the road or into another vehicle. Every passenger vehicle driver on the road should:

1) Consider exit strategies when driving. If you are on the road, think ahead and consider where you could go if you needed to swerve suddenly. Thinking ahead ensures that you can react quickly. Keep in mind that trucks react more slowly due to their bulk, so defensive driving may be in your hands. Keep your eyes moving well ahead of you so that you can anticipate problems.

2) Use your hazards. When you need to slow down to avoid an obstacle on the road, put on your flashers. Trucks behind you need extra time to stop, and your lights let them know ahead of time to start braking. This can help prevent a nasty accident and the personal injuries such an accident can cause.

As we close another year, there are number of issues which are currently affecting the trucking industry. These issues may have a direct or indirect impact on the number of serious trucking accidents and vehicle accidents which take place on our roads in the years to come:

1) The number of hours drivers can drive. Also known as hours of service (HOS), this issue is a highly debated topic. Current regulations and limits have worked, according to advocates. Accidents rates are lower among truck drivers, according to some industry experts. However, there are still pushes to reduce driving hours even further. While some experts advocate this, others question the value of reducing hours further, as this will increase shipping costs and will increase the number of days truck drivers spend on the road, potentially increasing accidents.

2) Cap and Trade. Although regulations controlling emissions of larger manufacturers have not been finalized yet, this is an issue that worries many in the trucking industry. Fuel costs invariably will affect the trucking industry and will eventually result in higher costs for customers as well. Some worry that concerns over costs as a result of increasing fuel prices may lead to decisions by trucking companies to reduce focus on safety.

Some experts believe trucks and even buses should use a technology known as a brake transmission shift interlock device, which helps prevent unintentional acceleration. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is one organization that supports the use of this device in larger vehicles. A brake transmission shift interlock device works by requiring that a driver apply the brakes in order to shift out of park. This device, according to experts and the NTSB, helps prevent pedal misapplication, which can cause accidents as drivers shift out of park. Misapplication of the panel takes place when a driver accidentally presses on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal or presses the accelerator and the brake pedal at the same time.

Of course, a brake transmission shift interlock device will not help prevent trucking accidents caused by other issues, such as driver fatigue, driver distraction, drunk driving, and other problems. However, some trucking accidents and bus accidents are caused by drivers who are unfamiliar with a particular vehicle. If the pedals are different from what a specific driver is used to, a brake transmission shift interlock device can help prevent pedal misapplication caused by this unfamiliarity.

The NTSB has requested of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that brake transmission shift interlock devices become mandatory in all larger vehicles that are vulnerable to pedal misapplication by the driver. In addition, experts have asked to be NHTSA to consider pedal design and pedal configurations in larger vehicles to determine whether these issues can contribute to trucking and other large vehicle accidents.