Commercial trucks and trailers can be more than 70 feet long and weigh up to 80,000 pounds. They’re gigantic pieces of machinery, and when impacting with a passenger vehicle at high speeds, they can crush that passenger vehicle. Victims are going to need the assistance of an experienced, aggressive and effective truck accident attorney.
Fatality Numbers of Commercial Truck Accident
The most recent ascertainable statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation are from 2016. In that year, 3,986 people died in accidents involving large trucks. Of those, 66 percent were occupants of passenger vehicles and 16 percent were pedestrians, bicyclists or motorcyclists. A total of 17 percent of those fatalities involved the occupants of the trucks. Tractor-trailers were involved in 73 percent of all fatal truck crashes in that year, and 21 percent involved single-unit trucks. Unknown truck types accounted for eight percent of the fatalities. Preliminary data for 2017 appears to show a nine percent increase in large truck accident fatalities from 2016. It’s estimated that 140,000 other people were injured in these crashes.
Common Commercial Truck Accident Injuries
If a victim is lucky enough to live through a crash that was caused by the driver of a large truck, his or her injuries could range from severe to catastrophic. Here are five of those types of injuries:
- Permanent traumatic brain injuries that are caused by blunt force or sudden acceleration and sudden deceleration.
- Partial or complete spinal cord tears that can result in paraplegia or quadriplegia. These types of injuries often lead to a decrease in the victim’s overall quality of life and life expectancy.
- Multiple fractures requiring multiple surgeries and permanent disfigurement and disability.
- Amputations that are caused by trauma or required out of medical necessity.
- Burns from either gasoline, diesel fuel or hazardous materials that the truck was hauling. Burns are terribly painful, and they’re likely to cause permanent significant disfigurement.
Common Causes of Commercial Truck Accidents
There are a variety of causes of large truck accidents. Nearly all of them involve meeting tight and sometimes unreasonable deadlines. Most large truck crashes are attributable to driver error. Here are some of the more common causes that a commercial truck accident attorney will see:
- Driver drowsiness or fatigue. Drivers are held to strict federal hours of service rules. Some drivers purposefully ignore them in order to meet deadlines.
- Speeding is directly connected with the strict deadline issue. For every five miles per hour that a truck driver exceeds the speed limit, the stopping distance increases drastically.
- Inadequate maintenance, especially in the context of tires and brakes. Failing to properly maintain a large truck and its trailer dramatically increases the chances of a tragedy occurring on the road
- Loading issues can cause a truck to jackknife or even rollover. Spilled cargo on the roadway increases the dangers posed to other motorists.
Commercial trucking companies know that the stakes are high if you are severely injured in accidents involving a commercial truck. They’ll do whatever they can to try and devalue your case by trying to shift some or all of the liability for a crash over onto you. These cases are highly complex. In order to be compensated properly for your damages, you’ll need the assistance of an experienced, aggressive and effective commercial truck accident lawyer. If you were seriously injured in a large commercial truck accident as a result of the carelessness and negligence of a truck driver or trucking company, call the Law Office of David Kohm today, and you can speak with a commercial truck accident attorney at any of our convenient locations. We offer free consultations and case reviews.
Arlington 817-522-4451
Denton 940-222-4060
Dallas 972-362-6848
Fort Worth 817-764-1375
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Louisville 972-354-4605
Frisco 972-725-7681
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