Commercial trucks are obviously much bigger than cars, so when there is a collision between them, it is not surprising that there are often fatalities and serious injuries involved. There are a lot of things that could have caused a commercial truck accident, and often either the driver or the company are responsible in some way. In this situation, you need a good vehicle accident attorney who can represent you and make sure you get the compensation you deserve.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, driver error is the main reason behind as many as 80 percent of trucking accidents. A major one of those errors is driver fatigue. Brake failure was cited as the most common cause of an accident when the equipment is at fault.
Truckers are often under tremendous pressure to deliver their goods at a certain time. They risk not getting paid, or even losing their job if they do not get their haul to the destination on time. There are a lot of variables that could interfere with their progress, such as weather or traffic conditions. If they get behind, they may be tempted to keep driving even when they should not, and they end up driving tired, which slows down reaction times and causes accidents.
There are as many as 4,000 people killed in truck-related crashes on American highways each year. Many of them are attributable to driver fatigue, which resulted in slower reaction times that resulted in an accident. Fatigue can also impair one’s judgment when quick action is required to avoid an accident on the highway.
The FMCSA says 13 percent of those crashes were caused primarily by driver fatigue. There are rules in place as to how long drivers are allowed to drive without rest, or how much rest they should have. Drivers who need to beat the clock have learned ways around those rules. While most truckers may follow the rules and do their best to be safe, there are always those that are willing to skirt the rules to get what they need.
There are some other reasons for truck-related accidents when driver error is the cause, including the use of alcohol or drugs, speeding, and distraction. Some other reasons for an accident could be things like equipment failure, brake failure, or bad road conditions. Unfamiliarity with a road, combined with bad weather, is another reason that truck accidents happen.
Fatigue remains a major issue, however. A truck driver may fall asleep at the wheel. He may run off the road, damaging the truck and injuring himself. He may also drift into other lanes of traffic and cause a multi-vehicle crash that kills or injures multiple people.
The FMCSA defines four critical reasons that are often the reason for a trucking accident when the driver is at fault.
- Non-Performance: Falling asleep, or being disabled by a medical emergency like a seizure or heart attack.
- Recognition: Inattentive or distracted from paying attention to the road. This would result in failing to recognize the situation in order to respond appropriately.
- Decision: The driver made a bad decision, such as driving too fast for the conditions on the road, misjudging speed, or following another vehicle too closely.
- Performance: Overcompensating or poor control of the vehicle, which can happen if a driver panics in a given situation.
Who is responsible?
The first thought could be that the driver is at fault when there is an accident. It is possible a passenger car could cause an accident with a big truck, but we may often assume it is the truck driver who is at fault. There can be others that can be held responsible though, and a good car accident attorney can help determine who that might be.
The company that employs the driver could be held responsible for damage caused by an accident. Companies may pressure drivers, or at least encourage them, to break the rules and skip mandatory rest periods. They may also encourage drivers to falsify records and logbook entries. The company is also responsible for training the drivers, and for hiring the drivers. If the company hired someone with a bad driving record or failed to train the driver, they could be held liable for an accident caused by the driver.
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There are others that can also be held liable for accidents. If a truck has faulty brakes that contributed to an accident, the company that serviced the brakes could be held responsible to some degree. If the company made a mistake and did not inspect the brakes, for instance, they could be held responsible. Those that loaded the material on the truck could also be held responsible if a shift in the load caused an accident.
Proving negligence
If you are injured in a truck accident, or if a loved one was killed, you need to establish that the driver was negligent in some way that caused the accident. Truck drivers have a duty to be careful on the road and to do all they can to be safe. You must establish that this did not happen for some reason. You must then show that the breach of duty caused the accident, and, of course, you must show that you had injuries and monetary loss. This would also apply to the company that owns the truck, and its responsibility to put qualified people behind the wheel of their trucks.
