Hundreds of thousands of 18-wheelers travel on the mid-Atlantic roadways every year. Sometimes, truckers don’t follow the laws designed to protect other drivers on the roadway. Many truck wrecks could have been avoided if the driver had exercised reasonable care. In many cases, the truck driver acted with negligence.
The commercial trucking industry has clear regulations. Believe it or not, the regulations in the American trucking industry have become so vast; more laws and compliance standards exist for this industry than any other transportation industry in the United States. However, trucking accidents still occur.
Common causes of trucking accidents are:
- Poorly maintained brakes, tires or lights on the truck
- Overloaded or oversized freight and cargo trucks
- Negligence of a truck driver
- Driver fatigue
- Rushed delivery schedules
- Road rage by a large truck driver
- Aggressive delivery truck drivers
- Tailgating or reckless driving by a truck driver
- DUI – driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Jackknife 18 wheel semi-truck accidents
- Speeding or ignoring the speed limit for trucks on the freeway or highway
Because of their weight and size, these large tractor-trailers can create tremendous amounts of damage when they are operated in an unsafe manner or when trucking companies fail to maintain and repair them properly. Unfortunately, some trucking operators are driven by the desire to profit more than they are concerned with safety and place unwise demands on their drivers.
Investigating trucking accidents thoroughly is a crucial step. It’s important to know who or what caused the accident. Accidents involving an 18-wheeler truck can cause serious personal injury. The types of injuries caused by trucks are usually severe due to the force of impact that a vehicle of this size causes, such as:
- broken bones
- lacerations from the broken glass and metal
- severe bruising
- head trauma
- brain contusions
- spinal cord injuries
- concussions
- loss of limbs
- amputations
- severe disfigurement
- burns
- and even death
The most basic concerns for our clients involved in a trucking accident are centered on treatment costs for injuries sustained from these types of wrecks. After an accident, immediate attention at a hospital may be needed. This may only be only the first step in a long road to recovery. Follow-up surgeries, doctor visits, physical therapy, and other rehabilitation treatments may be needed.
In addition to high medical costs, 18-wheeler truck accidents can also cause a great deal of property damage. The impact such a large vehicle makes when it collides with another object is often very significant, regularly resulting in total write-offs of other vehicles involved in the collision.
There are more than 15 million trucks on America’s roads. They are operated by more than half a million trucking companies. (according to trucking info .net) These trucks cover over 500 billion miles per year and generate more than $250 million in revenue annually for commercial trucking companies, truck owners, and truck drivers. The commercial trucking industry is large, powerful, and profitable.
Trucker drivers are often overworked, fatigued, and under stress and can easily endanger others on the road. If you need help understanding your case and recovering compensation for injuries sustained from a trucking accident, call our office at (302) 216-4498.
