Car accidents involving commercial trucks, eighteen-wheelers, or tractor-trailers are typically more catastrophic and damaging than collisions between two passenger vehicles. The size and weight of commercial trucks exerts extreme gravitational forces in an accident, causing great damage to passenger vehicles and their occupants. Injuries can be devastating, causing permanent disability or death. Most often, truck accidents in Riverside are the result of truck driver negligence or poor vehicle maintenance.
Six Common Causes of Truck Accidents
Truck drivers have to undergo special training to hold a commercial driver’s license, but they still make frequent errors in judgment. Truck drivers may ignore the legal number of hours they have to rest in between drives or drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Trucking companies may shirk their responsibilities and fail to maintain fleet vehicles, resulting in deadly accidents. Learning the Top 6 Common Types of Truck vs. Automobile Accidents can help you understand your rights as a victim.
#1. Rollover Truck Accidents
Truck accidents can often result in the truck rolling over due to high speeds, taking a curve too fast, steep declines/inclines, overcorrecting when the trailer drifts off the road, and hitting an object in the road. If a driver fails to adhere to vehicle safety regulations while driving, he or she can easily make a mistake that leads to a rollover accident. These accidents can severely injure or kill the driver, as well as cause harm to vehicle occupants in cars the rolling vehicle strikes or crushes.
#2. Jackknife Truck Accidents
What’s commonly referred to as a “jackknife” truck accident occurs when the truck’s brakes lock up, causing the trailer to skid and slide out to a 90-degree angle with the cab of the truck – similar to the blade of a jackknife. Drivers can usually prevent these accidents with the proper brake application and safety on slippery or unsafe roads. When a truck jackknifes, the driver loses control of the vehicle and often ends up in a rollover accident.
#3. Underride Truck Accidents
When a car rear-ends a large truck, it often results in a dangerous underride accident. The height of the back of a truck can be nearly the same level as the top of a vehicle, causing the vehicle to go beneath the truck. These accidents can be deadly, resulting in terrible head and neck injuries. Underride accidents are almost always due to passenger vehicle driver inattention.
#4. Rear-End Truck Collisions
Large trucks have difficulty coming to short stops and cannot brake as fast as passenger vehicles. When a truck driver locks the brakes or fails to brake fast enough, it can result in a collision with the rear of a passenger vehicle. The heavier truck can propel the car into vehicles in front of it, resulting in a multi-vehicle collision and risk of whiplash injuries.
#5. Blind Spot Truck Accidents
Trucks are notorious for having major blind spots due to the size and length of the trailers they carry. Truck drivers have large mirrors to help with blind spots, but they still have a “No Zone” where the driver cannot see other vehicles. Most trucks have warning signs telling drivers to avoid this zone, but sometimes a driver cannot avoid being in a truck’s blind spot. This can result in a truck merging on top of a vehicle, pushing the car off the road or causing a collision.
#6. Brake Failure Truck Accidents
Brake failure accidents can be the result of the driver’s own mistake, truck part malfunction, or improper brake maintenance. If a company fails to properly maintain or replace old brakes in fleet vehicles, the brakes could give out right when the driver needs them to perform the most. Brake failures can result in a variety of accidents, from rear-end collisions to rollovers. Like many truck accidents, brake failures are usually the result of someone’s negligence.
Get an Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer on Your Side
If you’ve been in a truck accident, don’t hesitate to contact a Riverside accident attorney at Estey & Bomberger, LLP to discuss your options. Call them today! 951-543-9020