Posts Tagged ‘Truck Accidents’

Every year in Florida, nearly 400 people are killed in accidents with large trucks and nearly 6000 are injured, many seriously. Of course, the word “accident” is deceptive. Accident implies that no one is at fault, but in truth there are very few true accidents. Most of the time, someone is responsible for causing the circumstances that led to the crash, and too often auto drivers are just as responsible for the wreck as the trucker. But if you want to avoid becoming part of these unfortunate statistics, there are a number of things you can do.

Respect Space

Successful driving is mostly a matter of negotiating the space around your vehicle and others on the road. Be aware that semis and other large trucks need more space than other vehicles. Most importantly, respect the space in front of a large truck. Large trucks need more distance for braking than other vehicles, as much as half again the distance. At 55 mph, a car on a dry road with good brakes can stop in about 200 feet, while a large truck requires about 300 feet. That means that if you have to slam on your brakes to stop, and you are less than 100 feet in front of a large truck, that truck may hit you. On wet days, a large truck may require as much as half a mile to come to a full stop at highway speeds, as much as 1000 feet more than a car.

Do not forget that large trucks also require a significant amount of space when turning. Give them a wide berth if you are turning at the same time, and, most importantly, anticipate and respect the need for a wide right turn.

Be Observant

You can do a lot to avoid a deadly crash with an 18-wheeler if you simply pay attention to traffic. If you can anticipate traffic hazards before coming to them, you can greatly reduce the chances that you will be involved in an accident. If you have to brake suddenly, the semi truck behind you might also have to brake suddenly, but if you can anticipate possible hazards, you can deal with them more gradually, allowing you and the semi truck behind you to adjust to the conditions.

Be observant of semi trucks and anticipate their movements, because they may not be able to respond to you. This applies not only on the highway, but on city streets as well. Be aware of the entire length of the truck. Ideally, the truck should have lights and reflectors along its entire length, but in many cases, they become dirt obscured or damaged, making them hard to see at night. Hitting the side of a truck trailer can lead to one of the most deadly forms of truck accidents, the underride, in which the chassis of your car passes under the chassis of the truck, causing the entire force of the impact to be borne by the car’s windshield and upper pillars, which are unprepared to handle such force.

Be Visible

18-wheelers and other large trucks have significant blind spots. If they cannot see you, they are more likely to hit you. Always make sure that you are in a place where you are highly visible to the truck driver. Do not linger in blind spots behind or to the side of large trucks. In addition, be sure to use your lights whenever the conditions are other than full bright daylight, including fog, rain, snow, and twilight.

Yield

Many accidents can be attributed to overly aggressive driving. In many cases, you can avoid an accident by simply making space for a merging vehicle and not trying to pass too closely to other vehicles. Courtesy will go a long way toward making the road safer for everyone.

The Hinge of Fate

However, sometimes no matter what you do, you are involved in a crash with a heavy truck. This can be a true accident in rare cases, but more often it is the result of someone else not doing his or her part to keep the road safe. Many times, this person is related to the trucking company, whether it is the driver who should have been paying more attention, the maintenance crew that should have maintained the truck’s brakes, or the loader that should have been more careful securing the cargo.

Accidents involving large trucks often have a different set of problems and questions than those involved in a regular car accident or other personal injury accident. The law firm you choose can make all the difference in the settlement you receive from the trucking company or its insurance carrier. Because accidents involving large semi trucks are often life threatening, the accident can drastically change your standard of living.

Why Do I Need A Lawyer At All?

Many trucking accident victims may not want to bother with a lawyer. They may think the trucking industry lawyer is looking out for their best interest. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The trucking industry lawyer works for the trucking industry — not you.

Without a lawyer, you may be encouraged to settle your claim quicker than you should. You may not fully understand your rights and damages. Once you sign a final settlement, you’ll be stuck. If something else surfaces related to your accident, you’ll be out of luck and any medical bills will come out of your pocket instead of the trucking company’s.

Personal Injury Lawyer

Oftentimes people automatically turn to a personal injury lawyer after an accident. A personal injury lawyer focuses on general injury claims and is usually easier to find via the internet or phone book. The lawyer may be qualified to handle many different types of injury claims, like car accidents, slip and fall accidents, or work place accidents.

Because personal injury lawyers handle many types of claims, they may not have the level of experience that a truck accident lawyer has with semi truck accidents. If hired, your case may even be the first a personal injury lawyer tries against the trucking industry. Due to the industry’s unique regulations, that’s not a situation advantageous for you. Your wellbeing is too important to put in the hands of a lawyer that lacks experience with trucking accidents.

Truck Accident Lawyer

An accident involving a large truck usually results in catastrophic injury or even death. Law firms that handle a large number of semi truck accidents are often better equipped at handling these large truck accident cases.

A truck accident lawyer typically knows what medical tests are standard and how to proceed if your accident means a lot of time in the hospital or out of work. A truck accident lawyer will also know the ins and outs of trucking legislation and will be able to help determine and prove the cause of your accident. Moreover, a truck accident lawyer that understands the trucking industry may be able to tell you if your accident was a part of a trend, signaling negligence on the part of the trucking company.

If you’ve had a truck accident anywhere in California from Oxnard to Palmdale, Apple Valley to Camarillo, from Corona in Orange County, CA to Fontana, from Victorville to Twentynine Palms or even in Hesperia, Moreno Valley, San Diego, Oceanside, Ontario, Perris, Redlands, or Palm Springs, you’ve probably been wondering if the California state legislators are working on any new ways to try to prevent truck accidents.

I had heard that the state’s legislators were rushing to pass some new laws to prevent truck accidents so I called one of my state Senators to get a sneak peak at just how the proposed legislation would affect big rig truck drivers in California and personal injury victims.

“So you’re outlawing texting by truck drivers?” I asked.

“Who told you that?” the Senator asked. “We’re outlawing jacknifing”

“Huh?” I asked. “Jacknifed trucks aren’t jacknifed intentionally.”

“Then why do they happen so often?” the Senator asked. “From now on, if you jacknife your truck, you do the time.”

“Oh good grief,” I said. “What else are you considering to prevent big rig accidents?”

“Blind spots,” the Senator said proudly.

“This is ridiculous,” I said. “That comes with the territory of driving a big rig truck. You might as well outlaw trucks from carrying any loads.”

The Senator made a note of that despite my frown.

“Have you considered the fact that in as much as 75 percent of the car versus big rig truck accidents, the driver of the car is at fault?”

“Of course we know that,” the Senator said. “Seventy-five percent?”

I nodded.

“Something’s got to be done about those car drivers,” the Senator said.

“You Senators still have a good idea to want to improve truck safety,” I said. “You’re just going about it the wrong way.”

“What do you suggest?” the Senator asked.

“Focus on ensuring that big rigs have properly functioning brake systems,” I said and watched the Senator taking furious notes.

“That’s good. That’s really good. Anything else?” the Senator asked.

“Spot check the trucks for proper loading and not just weigh them,” I said

“Excellent, excellent,” the Senator said. “Anything else?”

“How about penalizing companies that skirt the rules on resting truck drivers so they don’t fall asleep on the roads,” I suggested.

“That can be done, sure,” the Senator said.

“But you’re going to have to ensure that the logs of truck drivers aren’t fudged when it comes to recording the hours a truck driver spends behind the wheel,” I said.

“We’ll put our best minds on it,” the Senator said.

I shuddered to think what that might produce.

“Anything else?” the Senator asked.

“How about spot checking the truck drivers for alcohol or drugs?” I asked. “You do it for car drivers on weekends and holidays. Why not for truck drivers?”

“Good question,” the Senator said. “Do you have any other suggestions?”

“I do,” I said. “Why don’t you have the Highway Patrol focus their attention more on trucks that exceed the speed limit than on car drivers.. Can you imagine how much more dangerous a big-rig truck is driving at a dangerous speed with a full load is than a little car?”

“It’s harder to catch those truck drivers,” the Senator said. “Don’t they still have CB radios and use code language like in the Dukes of Hazard?”

I shook my head and left as the Senator was rushing back to tell his colleagues what great new ideas he had come up with to prevent truck accidents.

News Note – On October 1, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger banned motorists from texting, writing or reading messages on electronic devices. The law goes into effect January 1, 2009.

Heavy truck accidents have been associated with costly and fatal truck accidents, which is why the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) have developed new technologies to decrease these accidents. The technologies were showcased at the Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress and Exhibition.

Delphi, which was one the SAE’s 2008 exhibitors, revealed several new technologies to decrease truck accidents.

Truck Safety Technologies on the Horizon

There are an array of technologies on the horizon being developed by commercial truck manufacturers as well as technology producers working to better equip commercial truck drivers with the safety devices needed to better protect drivers, passengers and other vehicles on the road. Among the technologies being developed are the following, according to Delphi:

* The vehicle integrated safety system that offers lane departure warnings for forward, side and lane departures using radar and vision technologies.

* The headway alert system offers feedback to drivers on safe and unsafe distances for audio and visual alerts.

* A lane departure warning system that uses a camera to alert drivers when they have drifted out of their intended lane and the system uses algorithms to stop alerts when turn signals have been used.

* A drowsy driver alert system attempts to reduce vehicle accidents caused by sleepy drivers by using an imaging sensor and infrared illuminators to determine the number of eye closure rates that occur for an individual driver. The system uses a variety of alert tones to ensure a driver stays awake until they pull off of the road.

In addition to new-aged technology being developed to ease commercial truck driver?s worries of becoming involved in an accident, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is in its third year of its driver information sharing project known as the Enhanced CVISN. According to the FMCSA Technology Division, this system was created to “enhance the safety, security and productivity of commercial vehicle operations and to improve access to and quality of information about commercial drivers, carriers, vehicles, chassis, cargo, inspections, crashes, compliance reviews and citations for authorized and public and private sector users.”.

The project is also responsible for gathering and maintaining statistics on commercial truck carriers involved in accidents, receiving tickets as well as roadside assistance.

Legal Help For Commercial Truck Accident Victims

Commercial truck accidents are among the most dangerous vehicular accidents that can occur in the United States. Most commonly truck accidents involve a severe injury or bodily harm to those involved.

Those who have been involved in a heavy truck accident should consult an experienced legal attorney who can provide insightful details into developing a truck accident lawsuit.

Truck accidents such as those involving 18 wheeler tractor trailers turn out as fatal accidents on the roads. An average loaded commercial truck can weigh from 55,000 to 80,000 pounds whereas an automobile weighs around 3,000 pounds.
The huge size of trucks combined with driver inattention, fatigue, work pressure, longer working hours lead to accidents.

Following are some of the causes of truck accidents:-

- Lack of Truck Driving Training

- Overloaded and Oversized Trucks

- Oversized Trucks

- Faulty brakes of the trucks

- Poor driving conditions due to smoke, fog, snow, or rain

- Lack of experience on the part of Truck driver

- Fatigued, sleepy or over worked driver driving too long and too many hours without rest;

- Driving over the speeding limit

- Running off the road

- Aggressive driving

- Driving under influence of drugs or alcohol

- Driving the truck in bad weather conditions

- Reckless truck driving

- Faulty safety systems, reflectors, lights and other warning devices

Trucking accident cases are substantially different from other types of auto accidents such as car accidents. Tractor trailers generally have big insurance policies which goes up to million dollars or more. Further, truck accidents result in serious injuries as compared to accidents by cars, or motorcycles. Even if an accident victim survives a truck accident, then chances are that he may have to live with a serious physical disability throughout his life.

Most of the fatalities and injuries involve the passengers of vehicles while the truck drivers escape truck-vehicle collisions with little or no personal injury. A truck accident endangers lives of other small vehicles when truck or tractor-trailer operators fail to follow legal driving norms.

Due to serious nature of truck accidents, it can make things complicated for the victim. It can make medical issues more complicated and victims have to spend considerable amount of time undergoing surgeries and operations.

If you are involved in a truck accident within New York City then you must speak with a New York truck accident attorney who will help you receive justice and compensation for your injuries.

If you’ve ever driven across the Midwest, you’ve probably experienced driving behind, passing and being passed by some very fast-moving semi’s. Semi’s, or tractor-trailers or 18-wheelers or big rigs – they go by many names – help transport millions of tons of freight all over the United States every year.

Did you know that a fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh over 70,000 pounds? It’s just one of several vehicles that are considered large trucks. That category also includes delivery trucks, heavy cargo vans and all others weighing at least 10,000 pounds empty.

These big, sometimes beautiful, trucks can wreak havoc if they aren’t kept in top condition, if the driver isn’t rested enough or if the trucks are improperly loaded. There are almost 8 million large trucks registered in the U.S. and, some days, it seems like they are all on the road at once. Due to their massive size and lack of short response time, drivers of large trucks and tractor-trailers have some pretty strict regulations they must follows:

· Drivers are limited to the length of time they can drive without adequate rest and sleep

· Drivers are required to keep track of their time

· Trucks are subject to strictly controlled maintenance schedules

· Drivers must carry extensive insurance coverage

Since the trucking industry is a fairly expensive business, owners and operators are always looking for ways to save a few bucks. However, trying to cut corners in order to save a dollar here and there can lead to negligence on the part of the driver. If a rig is well maintained or if the driver falls asleep at the wheel, the resulting truck accidents can be devastating and very expensive. These are a few of the problems that can lead to trucks accidents with and without other vehicles being involved:

· Driver fatigue: drivers have specific requirements regarding how many hours they can drive at a time; not getting enough rest and spending too many hours on the road can leave a driver lethargic and unresponsive to traffic around him and even find him falling asleep at the wheel

· Schedules that are practically impossible to meet: many companies will set delivery dates that imply the driver will need to break the rules (including speeding and not sleeping enough) in order to make the delivery on time and not forfeit bonuses

· Taking shortcuts: truckers will get off the major highways in favor of surface streets to beat traffic

· Overweight truck loads: overloaded or incorrectly loaded freight puts extra stress on the engine, suspension, tires, etc. and slows vehicle response time even more

· Poor truck maintenance: not sticking to a strict maintenance schedule can lead to very costly breakdowns on the road including tire blowouts, brake failure, and other mechanical problems

When an 18-wheeler is involved in a multiple vehicle accident, there can be a lot more than 2 drivers and their insurance companies to deal with. Many tractor-trailers are owned by one person and driven by another. A truck accident claim could include the truck owner, the truck driver, both insurance companies and possibly their attorneys, the drivers of the other vehicles involved, as well as their insurance companies. It can quickly become very confusing.

Having an experienced truck accident attorney on your side will help ensure you get the settlement you deserve. You don’t want to overlook any future expenses such as medical bills, rehabilitation or long-term that may be required as a result of the injuries you sustained in the truck accident.

Traveling across the United States is a great way to spend time with your family and see what this country has to offer. Just watch out for the big trucks and semi’s. Give them some space and hopefully you won’t have to worry about calling a truck accident attorney.

Recently, a Florida Trend news article reported that although the unemployment rate dropped from 2006 to 2007, there were the same number of on-the-job fatalities as the previous year. Additionally, according to the article, truck drivers, who earn a mean wage of $29,266 are reportedly working in the most deadly job in the state of Florida.

The “transportation incidents killed 136 Florida workers in 2007,” however, this number is likely much higher considering those who were also killed and involved in a truck accident.

It is common for truck accidents to be among the most fatal auto accidents that can occur, especially among highways and biways. Although the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recorded approximately 2,234 deaths among those in the transportation industry throughout the country in 2007, but the actual number of individuals that were likely impacted by the truck accidents is likely much more.

For example, following a fatal truck accident there is often the notion of the ripple effect that can occur among truck accident victims meaning that not only can a victim be scarred by the injuries that ensued as a result of an accident, but their lives can continue to be negatively impacted as well.

It is common for a truck accident victim to be plagued by a number of adverse truck accident side effects including injury, job loss/loss of income, debt/bankruptcy and lack of funds to pay for medical expenses. The weight of a truck accident can also be an extreme burden to family and friends of a victim.

Legal Action For Truck Accidents

Individuals who have undergone a truck accident and may suffer from any of the severe side effects commonly associated with such an incident are encouraged to contact a lawyer for more details on the development of a lawsuit.

Those who create a truck accident lawsuit may be eligible for receiving monetary compensation as an award for the damages endured as a result of such an incident. There are several side effects and outcomes that can result from a truck accident, which is why many victims are advised to discuss the development of a truck accident with an experienced attorney. For more information on litigation involving a truck accident, a victim should locate an experienced truck accident attorney who could advise them on the details of a truck accident lawsuit.

Los Angeles is famous for its movie stars, but almost equally as famous for its terrible traffic. This chronic problem is made all the more dangerous by the thousands of big-rig trucks that use the California freeways as main arteries to transport the goods coming in from ports like Long Beach and San Pedro. Notoriously crowded freeways such as the 110, the 405 and the 605 are regularly the scenes of horrific truck accidents, making a Los Angeles Truck Accident Attorney a necessity. Because of the size and scope of these heavy trucks traveling at high speeds on our freeways, the victims of these Truck Accidents – most often the occupants of the passenger cars they collide with – suffer long-term gross injuries, such as spinal chord injury, head trauma and even death. As a result, there are as many Truck Accident Lawyers in Los Angeles as there are movie stars.

Truckers, like the rest of us, are under the gun now with high gas prices guzzling up a bigger share of their profits. Big-rig drivers are in a bigger hurry to deliver their goods. The result of all this pressure? Longer hours, less sleep, and more stress. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for disaster. Truck Accidents in Los Angeles are on the rise as is the need for Truck Accident Lawyers.

We’ve all seen it: truck drivers weaving in front of us, merging over into our lane of traffic, or following too close. And on congested Los Angeles freeways, this type of reckless behavior does not leave passenger cars nearby much room to maneuver. Eighteen-wheelers pose a particularly dangerous threat on the road. Fully loaded, trucks can weigh in at more than 80,000 pounds. Stack that up against a typical family car weighing 3000 pounds or less and it’s clear why a Los Angeles Truck Accident Lawyer agrees that this type of Truck Accident constitutes one of the largest proportion of fatalities among motor vehicle accidents – one out of every nine accidents. It also produces a disproportionately high rate of gross injury. Personal Injury Attorneys in Los Angeles who specialize in Truck Accidents can attest to the fact that 78% of fatalities in these types of truck accidents were not the truck drivers themselves, but were the occupants of the other vehicle. In many cases, these other drivers were innocent victims of truck drivers’ negligence.

So what are the contributing factors to these frightening truck accident statistics?

• Driver fatigue. Truck drivers are pushing their limits to deliver their goods, driving with little sleep and an extra load of stress. They’re driving faster and pushing the envelope of safety. They keep less and less distance between themselves and the passenger cars nearby.

• Inexperienced truck drivers who lack training.

• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

• Driving too fast. Did you know that a mere 10 mph over the speed limit can nearly double the distance a truck needs to brake safely– from 315 feet to 400 feet. In wet weather, those figures practically double to 720 feet for a full stop.

• Following too closely. The DMV recommends a car length for every ten miles per hour. But with big rigs measuring in at 65 feet long, you can see the stopping distance far exceeds the normal following distance we all see truckers following on the freeway.

• Loss of control. Seemingly minor errors in driving that could be easily corrected in a passenger car can become fatal errors in a big rig. Over-correction, too little braking room, and heavy loads balanced on the trailer can all contribute to a disastrous truck accident.

In October of 2007, one of the worst truck accidents in California history occurred in Santa Clarita when 15 trucks converged on a tunnel known for its safety issues. But the trucks, traveling at a high rate of speed, despite the low visibility in the curve of the tunnel ahead, caused a fiery collision, multiple fatalities and many more serious injuries. Truck accident experts – as well as Personal Injury Attorneys and Truck Accident Lawyers – believe that this kind of truck accident could have been avoided if the truckers had reduced their speed going into the poorly lit, curving tunnel.

Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys are all too familiar with the horror stories emerging from these types of catastrophic truck accidents. Collisions involving trucks constitute 1 out of every 9 fatal motor vehicle accidents.

While fatalities and injuries of the truckers themselves are concerning, they represent a proportionately small group of victims. Typically, in fatal truck accidents, only fifteen percent are the truckers themselves. Who suffers the most from truck accidents? People like you, Innocent people. Loved ones who did nothing more than get on the freeway to drive home.

If you or someone you love has been involved in a truck accident what can you do? Contact a Personal Injury Attorney in Los Angeles or a Los Angeles Truck Accident Lawyer who specialize in this type of Personal Injury lawsuit. They can advise you about what steps to file a Personal Injury claim, whether or not you have been injured. In one Truck Accident, the father of two children was killed in a head on semi-truck collision and was awarded $2,000,000. In another case, a man killed on a motorcycle by a big rig truck received a $4 million dollar settlement because of negligence of the truck driver. In each of these cases, being represented by an experienced and competent Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney.

Accidents involving commercial trucks often result in serious injuries or death. Every year, thousands of people are killed because of reckless truck drivers.

If you have a loved one that was killed in a commercial truck accident, an experienced truck accident attorney or law firm, like Bush Lewis P.L.L.C. in Beaumont, Texas can help you file a wrongful death claim after a truck accident.

Ken Lewis is an experienced Texas truck accident attorney. “I understand the rules and regulations involved when filing a wrongful death claim after a truck accident. This can be a difficult and confusing process for someone without experience,” says Lewis.

Truck accidents are often more serious than regular accidents because of the size of the commercial truck. A commercial truck accident can involve trucks that are as much as 20 times the size of a regular automobile. This means that the repercussions from a truck accident can be much more serious.

Driving a commercial truck well takes skill, knowledge, and experience; because of this, truck driver are required to follow different rules and regulations. Unfortunately, not all truck drivers follow the rules they are supposed to, and driving a commercial truck recklessly can lead to tragic accidents.

Reckless driving involves driving a vehicle in an unsafe, negligent, or dangerous manner. This can include:

· Speeding

· Weaving in and out of traffic

· Tailgating

· Disregard for safety

· Disregard for property

· Disregard for people

When the person driving recklessly is behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound commercial truck, accidents that result can be disastrous. State and Federal Laws limit the amount of time a truck driver can be on the road because when a truck driver is tired or fatigued they may be prone to driving recklessly. If the driver has been driving for too many hours, the commercial trucking company the truck driver works for may be held liable for the truck accident.

Also, reckless truck drivers may have a history of causing truck accidents. This can show that the driver is a hazard on the road, and that they have a habit of driving their truck recklessly.

Filing a wrongful death lawsuit attempts to establish that the reason your loved one passed away was a direct result of the truck driver causing a truck accident. Many different things can cause truck accidents, and reckless driving is one of them. Filing a wrongful death claim can be difficult, and an experienced truck accident attorney can aid you with the process.

Tractor-trailer truck accidents are among the most common truck accidents in the United States. According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Crash Avoidance Research, there were 1.6 million truck tractors and 3.6 million trailers in use in the motor carrier industry in 1998.

Also, in 2001, there were 7.9 million heavy trucks registered in the United States – 4 percent of all registered vehicles, according to the NHTSA.

Heavy trucks are considered those with a weight greater than 10,000 pounds. Heavy trucks are involveved in an array of traffic accidents, with this number ever increasing. They are also involved in rollovers accidents as well. Although rollover accidents are not as frequent, they can result in more damage to the vehicle and more injury to the driver.

Improving Tractor Trailer Truck Technology

Tractor-trailer trucks are involved in approximate average of 200,000 crashes annually, however, that number is quickly increasing, according to the NHTSA. In 2002 there were 435,000 large trucks involved in traffic accidents, of these accidents, nearly 4,542 involved a fatality.

Attempts are being made to improve the technology used within the tractor-trailer truck industry and with the development of commercial vehicles. Due to unavoidable constraints among current combination-unit truck trailer electrical powering and communications systems, there is becoming an increase in mechanical failures causing truck crashes.

The NHTSA has developed the Truck Multiplexing (TruckMux) project to better equip truck drivers with communications and technology between the tractor and the trailer, because truck accidents can frequently occur due to a loss of control between the two units. Other items that are also being worked on to better improve tractor-trailer trucks and thus decrease the number of accidents associated, include:

* advanced lighting multiplex modules

* trailer air brake reservoir low pressure

* brake status

* air suspension pressure and height

* tandem axle load

* rear object detection

* side object detection

* trailer door open

These are just a few of the technological issues that can cause a tractor-trailer truck accident, however, there are a plethora of reasons that a tractor-trailer truck accident can occur. For example, a study from the Large Truck Crash Causation Study from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, NHTSA and U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) discovered that there are two different categories of truck accidents: driver conditions and environmental/outside conditions. Some driver conditions include:

* traveling too fast for conditions

* driver fatigue

* aggressive driving behavior

* illness

* conversation

* alcohol, drug or prescription drug use

* interior distraction

* following too closely

* misjudgment of gap distance

Some of the environmental conditions include the following:

* roadway or weather related factors

* stop required to crash

* traffic flow interruption

* sightline obstructed

* other traffic/vehicle factors

* vehicle brake deficiency

* cargo shift or securement

* tire deficiency

* jackknife event

* brake, transmission or tire failure

* other vehicle defects

Tractor Trailer Accidents

The NHTSA has also developed a 10-year study to better determine the trends of heavy truck accidents. According to the study, the increase of truck accidents is occurring, and while many more individuals involved in accidents are wearing seatbelts/restraints, the fatalities associated with heavy truck accident/tractor trailer truck accidents is increasing. The study, conducted from 1994 to 2002, determined that:

* The lowest number of fatal accidents for this time period was 523 in 2002.

* On average, 18 percent of all heavy truck accidents and fatal injuries were a result of a single vehicle rollover accident.

* There was an annual 6 percent of heavy truck accidents involving fatalities and incapacitating injuries associated with restrained drivers.

* On average, 35 percent of heavy truck drivers were wearing restraint during this time period.

Avoiding Harm After a Tractor Trailer Truck Accident

If involved in a tractor-trailer truck accident, it is imperative that, whether injuries are visible or not, an individual seek medical attention immediately. As some injuries may be internal, it is important to ensure all potential conditions are thoroughly reviewed by a physician. Additionally, it may be necessary for an individual to consult with a tractor-trailer truck accident attorney on the specifics of developing a truck accident lawsuit.

Often, medical bills as well as additional costs of missing work, school, etc., are associated with being involved in a tractor-trailer truck accident, which is why it may be necessary to develop truck accident litigation and pursue compensation for the injury incurred.