18-Wheeler Accident Attorney

Causes of Truck Accidents: Trucking Companies

In 2004 alone, 5,190 people were killed in accidents involving an 18-wheeler or other large truck. This makes up 12% of all traffic accident fatalities. While that might not seem huge, many truck accidents can be avoided. Truck accidents, in many ways, are caused by the trucking companies.

18-wheelers and other large trucks can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds. This amounts to a huge difference in size and weight between the 18-wheelers and ordinary vehicles on the road. The difference puts ordinary vehicles at increased risk when they are involved in collisions with 18-wheelers. In fact, when a 2-vehicle accident involves a passenger vehicle and a large truck, 98% of the fatalities that ensure are individuals who were in the passenger vehicle.

Many may wonder how a trucking company could cause truck accidents. One way they cause accidents is by imposing unreasonable delivery deadlines on drivers. There are federal laws regulating how many hours in a day a driver can drive but those have been influenced by lobbyists paid by the trucking companies. When drivers are tired or just mentally fatigued from looking at pavement for too many hours in a day, they are not as alert. This directly contributes to truck accidents.

Another way trucking companies cause accidents is by imposing pressures to deliver. These pressures frequently result in a lack of maintenance because, as the truck companies see it, any vehicle that is not on the road isn’t making money.

Trucking companies also overload their trucks, despite the federal limits on how much a truck can tow at a time. Overweight trucks are more dangerous as they take longer to brake than trucks that meet the requirements and are more top heavy. Being more top heavy increases the odds that the 18-wheeler will roll. In addition, these excessively heavy trucks damage roads and bridges.

If you have been injured in an accident involving an 18-wheeler, please contact the 18-wheeler accident attorneys of Williams Kherkher at 1-866-950-9000 to discuss your case and to determine your legal options.