The enormous size of commercial trucks is typically a significant contributing element in trucking accidents’ fatalities and injuries. It is simple to understand how truck crash victims frequently sustain fatal injuries or catastrophic injuries given the significant size differences across trucks.
Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other common truck accident injuries can render victims of truck accidents incapable of working or even caring for themselves.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents
Accidents occur for a variety of reasons that are nearly too numerous to list. Nevertheless, descriptions of some of the most typical reasons for truck accidents are provided here.
Driver Fatigue
Truck drivers usually work a lot of hours. Some motorists disregard the law’s mandate that truck drivers get a certain amount of rest each day. There are probably few situations in traffic that are riskier than following a truck driver who is nodding off.
Distracted Driving
Truck drivers are subject to the temptations of distracted driving behaviors like texting and talking on the phone, just like everyone else. Most trucks still have CB radios, even if they aren’t utilized as much as they once were. Even listening to music to pass the time on a long drive can constitute distracted driving.
Alcohol and Drugs
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), commercially licensed drivers are only allowed to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.04%, which is half the 0.08% level for all other drivers. Alcohol use is forbidden for truck drivers within four hours of operating a commercial vehicle for their trucking company. While on duty, they cannot consume alcohol. Driving while intoxicated is a felony that endangers everyone on the road.
Speeding and Overtaking
Drivers much too frequently assume that they are safe on the road. Driving carelessly can result in a truck collision. A truck driver always has a choice in how they will drive the truck: carelessly or cautiously. Truck accidents can happen to both truck drivers and drivers of passenger cars as a result of reckless driving behaviors like speeding.
Poor Training and Maintenance
Poor training is not a role in truck accidents as the teacher, not the trainee, is responsible for making sure that drivers receive adequate instruction. Drivers who lack training may not even be aware of their limitations.
Poor vehicle maintenance is a major contributor to truck accidents. For instance, blowouts caused by worn tires may be fatal. Whether or not the driver is to blame depends on who was in charge of keeping the truck in functioning shape. The trucker is typically in charge of this, though not always.
Common Trucking Injuries Include
The most common truck accident injuries can be seen in the list below:
Amputations
Amputation or disfigurement are potential outcomes of a truck accident injury. The majority of amputations occur in serious truck accidents when the passenger car is crushed during the collision. If you have a deformity, you will require ongoing medical care and adaptive equipment like prosthetics to walk or use your arms.
Burn Injuries
Another serious truck accident injury is burn-related. A truck’s increased size compared to a passenger car means that it collides more forcefully and has a higher risk of exploding gasoline tanks.
Then, anybody riding in cars and trucks in close range, particularly truck drivers, risks suffering from serious burns.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal injuries are unique in that they are not immediately apparent. Following a car collision, particularly a trucking accident, medical evaluation, and treatment are crucial. It is typical for spinal injuries to result in lifelong mobility issues. In severe situations, they can even cause paralysis.
Head & Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and the loss or damage of brain tissue can result from trauma to the skull and brain. TBIs affect up to 3 million people annually. Similar to spinal cord injuries, these might not be discovered right away.
Head injuries from whiplash are common. Headaches, confusion, nausea, visual issues, slurred speech, and bleeding from the nose or head are all signs of brain damage.
Orthopedic Injuries
Due to the greater power involved in a trucking collision, more bones are fractured than in a car accident. Blunt force trauma, which frequently happens in truck accidents, results in broken and shattered bones. Although these wounds may usually be treated, they can be unpleasant and take a while to heal. Osteoporosis is a condition that might raise your risk of breaking a bone.
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Tips to Avoid Trucking Injuries
Even though not all accidents can be avoided, there are safety precautions you can take to lessen your chance of truck accident injuries. These security suggestions include:
Maintain a safe distance because semi-trucks are large and challenging to maneuver. They risk starting a deadly chain reaction on the road if they have to stop quickly.
Trucks have sizable blind areas on either side of them as well as behind them, so avoid riding in them.
Avoid aggressive driving; lane changes, speeding, and tailgating can all result in fatal truck accidents.
Passing a vehicle moving uphill or downhill is not advised since trucks can be challenging to control at these speeds. They can be unable to make fast movements and may naturally increase or reduce their speed.
In bad weather, such as fog, rain, snow, or ice, increase your distance, be extra careful, and give enormous heavy trucks extra time to stop and move out of harm’s way.
Give distinct signals – whenever you are passing or changing lanes close to a semi-truck, give distinct signals to the truck driver to let him or her know your intentions. Take into account signaling earlier than you would for other drivers.
Dim your bright lights; for drivers of commercial trucks, bright lights can make it difficult to see the road clearly, which could be disastrous.
Avoid driving while distracted; it’s a severe pandemic in this nation and the cause of tens of thousands of transportation accidents each year.
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Professional Truck Accident Lawyer With Proven Results
Should you or a loved one have been in a truck accident, then contact the friendly and competent staff at Coluccio Law today. They will be able to offer you advice as well as ensure you are compensated fully for all your losses.
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