Seeking Justice for Victims of Tractor Trailer Accident – Hire a Reputable Attorney Today
An accident with a tractor trailer can prove to be a life-altering experience. If you have suffered serious injuries after being hit by a tractor-trailer, only an experienced tractor trailer accident lawyer can help you. Do you need help with a tractor-trailer accident? Our experienced attorneys have got your back. With a deep knowledge of tractor trailer accident statistics, we will fight to get you the compensation you deserve.
Contact us at Royce Injury now for a free consultation.
The Complexity of Tractor Trailer Accidents
It is necessary to conduct a total investigation tractor trailer accidents because these cases are usually complex — the involvement of many parties and establishment of liability is a common hurdle.
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- Weight of a tractor-trailer: An empathy tractor-trailer weighs about 30,000 pounds and can go up to 80,000 pounds when fully loaded. If 2 tractor trailer crash into each other the impact can be devastating for the drivers as well as the other vehicles around them.
- Injuries are the most severe in tractor-trailer collisions: An accident involving tractor-trailer results in injuries of the acutest kind — more severe than injuries resulting from other types of traffic accidents. Spillage of goods as a result of crashes blocks the highways and causes further collisions of the cars coming from behind. Therefore, an accident with a tractor-trailer causes more collateral damage than any other collision between vehicles, thus involving several parties in an injury lawsuit.
- Settlements are pricy: According to our tractor trailer accident attorney, tractor trailer accident settlements may vary, depending on the nature and complexity of the case.
- Liability is difficult to determine: Tractor-trailer accident lawsuits can be between $10,000 to as high as $42 million in compensation for the physical, financial, and psychological damages. These damages can be claimed by the parties involved — tractor-trailer driver, trucking company, manufacturers, local or federal agencies, etc.
Who Can Be Held Legally Liable in a Tractor Trailer Accident?
Various defendants can be held liable if a tractor trailer accident happened due to the negligence of performing due care.
Vicariously liable parties
As mentioned earlier, various parties may be involved in a tractor trailer accident. Some of these parties — trailer drivers, loading businesses, trucking companies, a manufacturing company, and government departments overseeing road safety can be liable for causing injuries to you. The concept of vicarious liability is a simple legal duty that holds an employer responsible for any injury or damage caused by their employees when on duty. Every employment contract has a clause that determines the extent to which an employer will take legal responsibility for the actions of their employers. In an accident with tractor trailer caused to someone, the trailer company can be liable if they have failed to observe federal rules and regulations made for trucking companies. Such labilities are challenging to establish as the tractor trailer accident lawyer has to investigate the driver logbook, records of duty, trucking company’s internal accountability system, and other relevant data to determine the at-fault party. Car accident tractor trailer cases are also challenging if more than one vehicle is involved. You can bring a lawsuit against a trailer driver, loading business, trucking company, a manufacturing company, government department overseeing road safety, etc.
What Causes Tractor Trailer Accidents?
In a recent tractor trailer accident, Kia trapped under a tractor trailer was dragged about 8 miles on the Kansas highway. According to the report by the US Department of Transportation’s fatality analysis reporting system (FARS), tractor trailer accident statistics show that approximately 4,014 tractor trailer crashes happened in 2020. Out of these crashes 68% were car crashes, and 15% were pedestrian accidents that happened due to tractor trailers. The ratio of tractor trailer accidents has jumped to 35% in the past decade. Tractor-trailer accidents have become so frequent we see headlines like a fatal tractor trailer accident yesterday claimed a life.
There are many causes of tractor trailer accidents. Some of them are;
Manufacturing defects
In two tractor-trailer accidents yesterday, the driver failed to apply brakes, causing the death of four people. Manufacturing defects are perhaps the most common reason for an accident tractor trailer causes. Drivers struggle to apply brakes at the right time or do not have enough room to brake due to some inherent manufacturing defect in the tractor trailer. The government is improving legislation on truck manufacturer negligence. Truck manufacturers are being regulated more strictly at the outset of the increase in fatalities due to design defects.
Road Rage and reckless driving
We are no strangers to news such as “in a road rage tractor-trailer accident today two people lost their lives”. Approximately 7% of people lose their lives to road rage tractor trailer accidents each year, according to the official statistics by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Traffic violations and negligence of trucking company rules and regulations
Most of the accident tractor trailer today causes are preventable. If traffic rules and rules and regulations made for truck companies are properly observed, we can prevent such accidents. Most shipping and loading companies overload the tractor trailers. It increases the risk of losing balance on the road due to heavy weight. A typical tractor trailer has a capacity of 80,000 pounds when fully loaded. Adding more weight results in deadly crashes.
DUI, distracted, and drowsy driving
It is not possible to drive a heavy vehicle safely if you are unable to focus on the road. Most truck-trailer accidents happen because the driver is either driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, feeling sleepy, or multitasking while driving. According to US National Highway Transportation Safety Authority;
- 11,654 fatalities happen due to DUI
- 3,142 fatalities by distracted driving
- 633 fatalities due to drowsy driving
- 11,258 people lose their life to speeding
Most of these fatalities result from crashes with heavy vehicles like tractor trailers.
Bottom Line
If you have suffered in a truck accident lawyers, you can turn to our lawyers, our experienced lawyers at Royce Injury can help you. Book a free consultation to understand your next steps.
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