What Are the 7 Types of Accidents With Trucks?
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While factors such as speed and difference in vehicle weight can influence the outcome of a truck accident, the most crucial factor in determining damages is the type of truck accident.
Anthony Muharib – Personal Injury Lawyer has over twenty years of experience handling all types of truck accidents. To ensure success in obtaining full compensation for your injuries, it is vital to contact a truck accident attorney immediately.
Brake Failure
If a big rig has a brake failure, it is likely federal trucking regulations were ignored or not followed. Due to the immense stress a truck’s load places on its brake system, brakes must be well-maintained. If a truck driver fails to inspect brakes before driving, or if the company does not adequately maintain the brakes, they are in serious violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Regulations, which may be evidence of negligence and even be a basis for punitive damages.
Rear End Collisions
A common consequence of brake failure is a rear end truck accident. Many scenarios can cause a rear-end accident:
- Driver fatigue
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Brake failure
- Breaking roadway regulations
- Hiring an unlicensed, reckless, or unsafe truck driver
In most cases, the truck company and/or the driver can be held liable for this type of accident.
Jackknife Accidents
A jackknife truck accident happens when the trailer swings out and forms an acute angle with the cabin. It often results in the truck rolling over.
Properly trained tractor-trailer drivers can avoid and correct errors that lead to truck jackknifing. If the truck is poorly maintained or the driver is unlicensed or inadequately trained, the driver and the trucking company may be negligent.
Head-On Collisions
Head-on truck accidents are the most fatal type of truck accident. Even slow-speed head-on collisions can result in serious injuries. Head-on accidents are usually due to truck driver fatigue.
Side Collisions
A side collision truck accident occurs when the 18-wheeler crashes into the side of a car. Since airbags, headrests, and seatbelts are designed to minimize injury in head-on or rear-end crashes with other vehicles, a side collision with a truck often results in serious injury or wrongful death.
Pileups
Numerous individuals will likely sustain catastrophic injuries or die when a multi-vehicle truck accident occurs. Pileup truck accidents often occur on busy roads and can result in people being trapped in their vehicles until rescue workers can get them out.
Underride Accidents
An underride truck accident happens when a car collides with a semi-truck trailer and becomes lodged beneath it. These tragic accidents typically cause death for those in the car.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has regulations as to bumper height for trucks manufactured on or after 1-26-98. They are designed to help prevent underride accidents. The Department of Transportation (DOT) also has regulations (49 CFR §393.86 and Standard 223 § 571.223) for rear impact guards for trucks weighing 4,536 Kg (gross) or more, which specify that the rear bumper must:
- Extend to within four inches of the outermost trailer edges on each side;
- Be no more than 22 inches from the paved surface; and
- Be no more than 12 inches from the trailer’s back end.
- Trailers manufactured before January 26, 1998, must, according to 49 CFR §393.86, have rear bumper guards:
- No more than 30 inches off the road surface;
- No more than 18 inches from the trailer’s outboard edge; and
- “Substantially constructed and firmly attached” (although the DOT gives no specifics on this)
When these safety regulations are violated, the unsafe truck poses a severe risk to all vehicles that drive behind it.
If you or a loved one has been hurt in any truck accident in Texas, whether in Houston or anywhere else in Texas, please get in touch with our truck accident attorneys to schedule your confidential, no-cost consultation.
