Semi Truck Accident Law
A serious injury resulting from a crash with trucks can result in the death of the victim with medical expenses. It can also lead to permanent disabilities that require expensive equipment and long-term physical therapy.
After a crash, it is essential to have an experienced New York truck accident attorney by your side. A skilled lawyer can you prove your case with evidence such as police reports, surveillance camera footage, and more.
Vehicles that are not maintained properly
In many instances trucking companies and owner-operators do not take the appropriate steps to make sure their vehicles are in good working condition. This leads to a high percentage of avoidable accidents every year.
Comparatively to passenger vehicles, tractor-trailers and semis need more frequent maintenance due to their size and heavier loads. Unfortunately, the pressure of meeting deadlines and maximising profits is often more important than maintaining the fleet. In the end, trucks can become prone to mechanical breakdowns that can lead to devastating accidents.
The brakes of trucks are of particular importance because they must be able to stop the vehicle and slow it down at any moment. When the brake pads on a truck lines, lines or return springs fail they could cause serious collisions and fatal injuries. It is essential that these components are regularly inspected and replaced when required to keep them in good condition.
A poorly maintained tire can also be a major cause of truck accidents. Tires that are worn out may lose traction, which causes the truck to skid or even rollover. Tires that aren't working either because of improper tread design or air pressure can fail catastrophically.
In addition to regular maintenance, trucks need regular inspections in order to spot mechanical issues before they cause an accident. If an inspection is conducted incorrectly or the repair shop fails to follow the manufacturer's guidelines, it could cause an accident. In such cases the company that employed or oversees the maintenance or repair shop could be held responsible.
Poorly functioning lights, signals and reflectors are a common reason for truck accidents. These elements must function correctly to enable drivers to see and anticipate the movements of the truck especially in rural areas or at night. Drivers or trucking companies may fail to maintain and inspect these components, or they might not conduct regular safety inspections.
A reliable Houston truck accident lawyer will review your case and determine which parties may be accountable for your injuries if you were injured in an accident involving a badly maintained commercial truck. These investigations can reveal evidence that proves the defendant's negligence and help you obtain the compensation you are entitled to.
Distracted Drivers
Accidents involving commercial trucks can be catastrophic. These huge vehicles can weigh up 25 times more than your car and cause a lot more injuries in accidents. While many factors contribute to accidents that result from distracted driving, it is one of the most common and dangerous. A distracted truck driver can lose control of their vehicle or miss an accident on the road and cause life-threatening injuries.
Truck drivers must adhere to strict rules and regulations formulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This includes a prohibition against texting or using cellular phones while driving. Even if truckers abide by the rules, they can still be distracted, causing an accident. This can be caused by accidental distractions, such as turning your back on the steering wheel or cognitive distractions like thinking about something other than driving.
jacksonville semi truck accident law firm are aware that texting while driving is dangerous, but they are not aware that other activities, like eating or changing radio stations or talking to passengers, are also considered to be distracting. If a trucker is distracted, it is possible that he will drift into a different area and not be aware of a traffic jam ahead. When a trucker's attention is diverted, it takes only an instant for a large vehicle to crash into a passenger car.
It is essential to collect information about any witnesses and take photos of the scene of the crash when an unintentionally distracted driver causes the truck to crash. It is also helpful to determine the name of the truck driver and the company they are employed by, as and who owns the truck, if it's an independent contractor. This can have an influence on who is responsible for the accident, since it is the responsibility of the trucking business to recruit competent and experienced truck drivers. If the trucking company is found to be at least partially responsible for your accident, they could be responsible for your economic as well as non-economic damages.
Rear-End Collisions
Rear-end truck collisions are common and can cause serious injuries. They can happen in a variety of situations for example, at an intersection or stop signal when the trucker fails to check behind them for traffic in the direction of oncoming traffic. It can also happen if a car cuts across the truck's path, causing the driver of the truck to stop abruptly without warning. The trucker can then slam into the car from behind.
It can be hard to establish fault when there's rear-end collisions, as it's not always evident the vehicle that was at fault. However, an experienced lawyer can assist in gathering evidence that shows the driver at the rear was responsible for the crash because they followed too closely or distracted driving. This could include evidence such as photographs, police reports, eyewitness testimony, and skid marks on the road.
Sometimes, the driver in the front could be found to be at fault for the crash also. This could happen if they cut someone off or fail to obey their turn signal as any reasonable person would, or decide to slam on the brakes at the last moment and causing the driver in the back to slam into the car directly in the front. In this kind of situation the modified comparative negligence laws can be applied. The jury will determine a percentage of the blame to each of the parties. Damages are then reduced accordingly.
Bruises & Lacerations
In a rear-end crash, the rear of the car is the area that receives the most impact. This means that the passengers are at risk of serious injuries if they crash their heads against the dashboard or the back window. They could also break bones after being thrown around the interior of the car as a result of the force of the collision. Injuries to the spine are often severe. The spinal cord houses a number of nerves that regulate the body, therefore any damage to the spinal column can cause long-lasting and serious issues for the victims.
In addition to these kinds of injuries, the victim may suffer from psychological and emotional trauma from being involved in a devastating crash. They may have trouble getting enough sleep or concentrating, which may cause anxiety and depression. They may also experience stress and financial difficulties in the event that they are unable to work due to an injury. An attorney can examine the possible sources of liability and help a victim receive fair compensation for their loss.
The trailer hitches are faulty.
It doesn't matter if you're driving the vehicle of a car, van, truck, or a flatbed, all vehicles have to be securely attached to their trailers. Unintentionally pulling a trailer off can cause catastrophic accidents that lead to serious injuries or death. If you've been injured in an accident that involved an unhitched trailer, call an experienced lawyer for car accidents specializing in hitch failure cases promptly to discuss your legal options.
A defective trailer hitch could be caused by many different things, from improper security to design flaws. It could also be the result a defect in the manufacturing process or a manufacturing defect, in which case the lawful product liability may apply. The company or the person responsible for a trailer that is defective can be held accountable for the victims' medical costs along with auto repair expenses and other losses resulting from the incident.
For instance, in a deadly crash that took place in January 2014 on an Ohio road known locally as "Devil's Backbone," a trailer came out of the truck and slid over two cars ahead of it. Initial investigations pointed out that the accident was due to the driver's negligence for failing to inspect and secure the hitch. However, in June 2015 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began to investigate the possibility that a manufacturing defect caused the hitch at the center of the crash -one of the Ultra LT manufactured by Fontaine Fifth Wheel of Trussville, Alabama -- to malfunction on a high number of occasions.
The trailer struck the sides of the vehicles, and then crashed into them. The result was multiple deaths and serious injuries to drivers of the vehicles.
The driver of the truck involved in the crash was found guilty of vehicular murder, however experts say that he could've avoided the collision in the event that he had conducted an extensive inspection of his trailer to ensure that all connections were secure. A faulty trailer hitch could cause major problems. These accidents are typically fast and can easily smack motorbikes or small cars. In these situations, the trailer may distort the frame of a car and result in sharp metal fragments that can impale passengers.