Semi Truck Accident Law
A semi-truck crash can result in an injury of a serious nature that could cost a person a lot in medical expenses. It can also cause permanent disabilities requiring expensive equipment and long-term physical therapy.
Following a collision, it is essential to have an experienced New York truck accident attorney by your side. A qualified attorney will assist you in proving your case using evidence such as police reports and surveillance footage, among others.
Vehicles that are poorly maintained
In a majority of cases trucking companies and owner-operators do not take the appropriate steps to make sure their vehicles are in good working condition. This negligence results in an increase in the number of preventable accidents occurring every year.
In comparison to passenger cars, semis and tractor-trailers require more frequent maintenance work due to their size and weight. loads. Unfortunately the pressure to meet deadlines and maximize profits often over maintaining the fleet. As a result, trucks can become prone to mechanical problems that can could cause devastating accidents.
The brakes of a truck are particularly important as they must be able to stop the vehicle and slow it down at any moment. When brake pads lines, return springs or lines on a truck are worn out and break, it could lead to serious accidents and fatal injuries. These parts should be regularly checked and repaired as necessary to maintain their good working condition.
Tires that are not maintained properly can be a major contributor to truck accidents. Tires that are worn out can lose traction and cause the truck to roll over or slide. Tires that are defective, whether it's due to improper tread design or air pressure may fail catastrophically.
In addition to regular maintenance, trucks must undergo regular inspections in order to spot mechanical issues prior to causing an accident. If an inspection is not done correctly or the repair shop fails to follow the manufacturer's guidelines this could result in an accident. In such cases, a company that commissioned the repair or maintenance company or who was responsible for its supervision could be held accountable.
Faulty lights, signals and reflectors are also a frequent reason for truck accidents. These items must function properly to enable drivers to observe and anticipate the movements of the truck particularly in rural areas or at night. Trucking companies or drivers may fail to maintain and check these components, or they might not conduct regular safety inspections.
A Houston truck accident lawyer will review your case and determine who may be accountable for your damages in the event that you were injured from a poorly maintained commercial truck. These investigations can reveal evidence that demonstrates the negligence of the defendant in the crash and help you receive the compensation you're entitled to.
Distracted Drivers
There aren't many things more damaging than an accident that involves a commercial truck. These huge vehicles weigh up to 25 times more than your car and could cause much greater injuries when they are involved in an accident. While a variety of factors can cause accidents and injuries, distracted driving is one of the most frequent and risky. A distracted truck driver can lose control of the vehicle or fail to notice a road danger that could result in serious and life-changing injuries.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has strict rules and guidelines for truck drivers. This includes a ban on texting and using cell phones while driving. Even when truckers adhere to the rules, they might be distracted and result in an accident. This could be because of manual distractions like taking a hand off the wheel or mental distractions like thinking about something other than driving.
Many people are aware that texting while driving is risky, but many do not realize that other activities, like eating or changing radio stations or talking to passengers, could also be considered to be distracting. When a truck driver gets distracted, they could wander off into another lane, or miss an obstruction in front of them. It takes only a split second for a huge truck to collide with a vehicle if the trucker's mind wanders.
It is crucial to gather details about witnesses and to take photographs of the accident scene when the driver is distracted, which can cause an accident with a truck. It is important to determine the name of the driver, the business that they work for and who owns the vehicle if it's an independent contractor. This could affect who is liable for your incident since the trucking company is responsible for securing competent and skilled truck drivers. If the trucking company is found to be partially responsible for your accident, they could be liable to you for economic and non-economic damages.
Rear-End Collisions
Rear-end collisions between trucks are common and often result in serious injuries. They can happen in a variety of settings like an intersection, a stop signal, where the trucker is unable to look behind them for traffic in the direction of oncoming traffic. They may also occur when a car crashes into front of the truck, forcing the driver to use their brakes without warning. The trucker could then hit the car from behind.
It can be difficult to prove fault in the event of rear-end collisions because it's not always clear the vehicle that was at fault. A knowledgeable attorney can gather evidence to show that the driver in the back caused the crash due to following too closely or driving erratically. This can include evidence such as photos, police reports, eyewitness testimony, and skid marks in the road.
Sometimes, the driver in the front might be the one responsible for the accident in addition. This can happen when they cut someone off or fail to use their turn signal as any reasonable person would, or put on the brakes at the last moment and cause the driver in the back to crash into the vehicle directly in the front of them. This kind of situation is where modified comparative negligence laws can be applied, in which the jury assigns a percentage of blame to each party, and damages are reduced accordingly.
Lacerations and Bruises
In a rear-end crash, the rear-end of the car is the area that experiences the most impact. This means that drivers are most at risk of serious injuries if they crash their heads against the dashboard or the back window. The impact of the crash could also cause broken bones if the occupants are thrown about the interior of the car. Spinal injuries can be serious. Injuries to the spine can have serious and long-lasting consequences for victims.
A person who has been involved in a serious accident might also suffer psychological and emotional trauma. They may experience difficulty sleeping or concentrating. This can cause anxiety and depression. They could also be facing stress and financial difficulties in the event that they are unable to work because of an injury. An attorney can examine the possible causes of liability to help a victim receive fair compensation for their loss.
roanoke semi truck accident attorney with trailer hitches
All vehicles, regardless of whether they're a car or a truck, van, flatbed, or van, need to be securely connected to their trailers. If a trailer becomes unhitched, it can result in catastrophic accidents that cause serious injuries or death. If you've been injured in a collision involving the trailer that is running away, you should contact an experienced attorney for vehicle accidents specializing in hitch failure cases as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.
The cause of a faulty trailer hitch can be caused by a variety that can be traced to improper securing or defective design. It could also be the result of an issue with the manufacturer, in which case products liability laws could apply. The company or the person who is at the fault for a trailer that is defective is liable for medical bills of victims and auto repair costs and other losses related to the incident.
For instance, in a deadly crash that took place in January 2014 on an Ohio road that is locally referred to as "Devil's Backbone," a trailer came off the truck and careened through the air into two cars that were behind it. Initial investigations linked the incident to the truck driver's negligence for failing to inspect and secure the hitch. However, in June 2015 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the possibility that a manufacturing defect had caused the hitch that was involved in the crash -- an Ultra LT manufactured by Fontaine Fifth Wheel in Trussville, Alabama -- to malfunction on a large number of occasions.
The trailer hit the side of the vehicles and crashed into them. The result was multiple deaths and serious injuries to drivers of the vehicles.
The driver of the truck that was involved in the incident was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter. However experts believe he could have avoided the collision with other vehicles had he done a thorough visual inspection of his trailer and made sure that all connections were secure. A faulty trailer hitch can cause major accidents. These accidents are typically high-speed and can easily sidewipe motorbikes or smaller vehicles. In these instances the trailer could distort the frame of a car and cause razor-sharp metal fragments to injure passengers.