As truck accident statistics show, crashes involving trucks are far too common. And that they also tend to be severe.
Understanding what causes truck accident lawyer is important. Why exactly? Because it can help to prevent them. And it can also guide road safety policy.
Here’s all you need to know about common truck accident causes.
Driver-Related Truck Accident Causes
Maintaining intense focus and skill over long hours is extremely demanding, even for experienced commercial vehicle operators. And so it is no surprise that they are a common cause of accidents.
Here are some prevalent driver-centered causes of truck crashes.
Truck Driver Fatigue
Operating an 80,000-pound rig demands peak mental and physical acuity to navigate roadways safely. However, long-haul schedules often cover over 11 hours of driving daily, proving extremely taxing over weeks. Strict delivery deadlines and pressure can also cause many drivers to push beyond healthy limits, increasing the odds of causing an accident.
Distracted Truck Drivers
Today’s technology-saturated world presents immense distractions, and truck cabs are no exception.
While driving, truckers face constant temptations to divert attention to cell phones, GPS devices, the radio, and more. Even minor distractions degrade driver focus substantially, causing delayed response to traffic conditions and slower brake times.
Speeding and Aggressive Driving
Unfortunately, some truckers save minutes by exceeding reasonable speed limits and driving aggressively.
Excessive speeding drastically reduces a trucker’s ability to slow down or stop suddenly when needed to avoid a dangerous situation. The faster momentum also amplifies crash impact forces exponentially, increasing injury severity.
Impaired Driving
Some truck drivers still drive illegally while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which makes roads dangerous for everyone. Alcohol and drugs slow reaction times and make it harder to process information, even in small amounts.
This increases the chances of serious crashes. Long-haul trucking is already a tough job, so improving rules about rest, reducing distractions, and stopping impaired driving can help make roads safer. Other drivers can also help by keeping a safe distance from trucks, avoiding sudden moves, and using signals early to give truckers more time to react.
Vehicle Maintenance Issues
Truck accident are not just influenced by driver behavior; the trucks’ condition is also a big factor. Unlike regular cars, trucks cover long distances daily and carry heavy loads, which makes regular inspections and maintenance very important. Sadly, some fleets skip these steps to save time or money, increasing the risk of accidents.
Brake Failure
Commercial trucks utilize complex air brake systems relying on valves, lines, chambers, and drums working seamlessly together for smooth slowing and stopping abilities. However, various components wear down over continual heavy usage.
Without vigilant mechanics checking for leaks and worn parts that require replacement, brakes eventually fail, causing truck wrecks. Though regulations set standards around routine brake system inspection intervals, lack of easy tracking means inconsistencies persist. This increases the likelihood of brake failure accidents.
Tire Blowouts and Failure
Massive rubber tires endure pounding under heavy 80,000-pound trucks traveling across thousands of miles over the years. Even quality manufactured tires suffer tread wear and sidewall fatigue over time. And so skipping regular tire inspections and rotations that catch damage development early often leaves truckers unaware of impending danger on the roads from blowout-caused rollovers.
Catastrophic Mechanical Failures
General mechanical functionality keeps trucks operating safely, but multidimensional intricacy leaves many potential weak points. Critical components like engines, axles, drivetrains, steering, and suspension endure nonstop strain with limited downtime. So, skipping vital fluid changes, belt/hose replacements, and alignment adjustments per rigorous manufacturer guidelines risks mechanical failure in trucks. These can result in loss of control truck crashes. Implementing expansions of roadside safety inspections to include commercial vehicles without compliance history flags pushes the industry towards amplifying preventative maintenance diligence, keeping trucks mechanically solid.
Staying on top of wear and tear with routine truck servicing and parts swaps greatly reduces the risks of catastrophic failures leading to accidents.
Overloaded or Improperly Loaded Cargo
What gets placed into commercial trailers also significantly influences truck safety on roadways.
Carrying excess weight over set legal cargo weight limits or securing truck loads unevenly lessens truck stability and handling control. These hazardous hauling practices sneak under the radar too easily, escalating preventable crash risks.
Dangers from Overloaded Trucks
Loading cargo beyond set weight limits designated for specific truck types by their gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) causes extremely dangerous driving conditions.
Overloaded semi-trucks require longer stopping distances and follow sloppily through turns. Brakes wear out faster, trying to slow excessive masses. The extra heavy weight also raises risks of jackknife tendencies, trailer swaying, and catastrophic tire blowouts. Using more advanced weigh station screenings can combat oversight of dangerously overloaded truck hauls that threaten everyone’s roadway safety.
Truck Rollover from Unbalanced Loads
The way freight gets positioned inside trailers impacts stability critically, too.
Whether a truck will handle safely through maneuvers requires balanced weight dispersal that maintains a uniform center of gravity. However, quick loading/unloading procedures often ignore load balancing diligence, especially in the commonly partially filled backhauls. High, off-center placement is prone to shifting, which causes rollovers and taking out nearby vehicles, too, especially during evasive actions.
Universal adoption of electronic stability control systems that automatically counteract dangerous trailer sway through selective wheel braking can help significantly reduce cargo imbalance rollovers. Matching assigned loads to truck capacity ratings and securing all items firmly can prevent hazardous overweight or load-shifting threats.
Weather Conditions and Road Hazards
External factors like adverse weather and subpar road conditions also decrease truck safety margins.
Rain, snow, and icy asphalt reduce traction, affecting steering and braking for all vehicles – and force amplification principles mean trucks suffer the most. Also, potholes, debris, and construction obstacles make navigating more dangerous for lengthy tractor-trailers.
Icy, Wet and Snowy Roads
Inclement weather poses amplified risks for truck maneuverability challenges.
Massive vehicles that already handle sluggishly struggle to find the grip for accelerating, turning, and stopping on low traction surfaces when cold temperatures hit. Light precipitation causes the accumulation of water, interfering with tire contact. Additionally, snow-packed, slushy, or icy roads diminish control substantially, delaying reactions to traffic conditions. These conditions increase the risks of low-visibility truck accident.
Unfortunately, many truckers press on and end up driving in bad weather. And so, it is important to ensure the implementation of more restrictions around mandatory reduced speed limits for trucks, specifically during/after the winter weather.
Narrow Lanes and Construction Zones
Highways contain limited space for smooth tractor-trailer maneuverability under ideal conditions with 12-foot lanes. However, temporary barriers squeezing usable pavement below 10 feet require extra precautions in work zones. Similarly, crammed city roads or ramps are designed mainly for autos strain trucks navigating tight quarters, increasing accident risks. All these increase the risks of accidents.
Obstacles and Debris
Finally, trucks already struggling in narrow lanes with weather challenges face amplified dangers hitting unexpected roadway debris or potholes. Items from shredded tires to spilled cargo to storm sewer covers all become undetectable road hazards for trucks when a truck’s slowed responsiveness combines with an obstructed downward view of the road directly ahead from high driver seat placements. Preventative policy steps promote continuous road shoulder debris cleanup requirements and strive to minimize crash catalysts trucks cannot avoid despite their massive size.
Advocating for enhanced winter weather preparations, improved construction zone design parameters, and increased highway debris mitigation makes for safer truck travel resisting conditions beyond driver or automotive control.
Inadequate Driver Training
Rising industry demand pressures to haul ballooning freight volumes too frequently result in underqualified truck operators hitting the roads alarmingly. This is unfortunate. Why? Because robust commercial driver license testing processes seek to ensure driving mastery across diverse weather and traffic challenges. And so, fast-tracking candidates through truck driving school creates inadequately prepared semi-truck drivers needing more skills to stay incident-free.
Insufficient Trained Drivers
The growing trucking sector struggles to meet shipping needs, with recruitment not finding more new qualified drivers at the rapid pace required. This leaves many undertrained, minimally experienced operators taking the wheel of tractor-trailers prematurely. Recent graduates of abbreviated trucker training schools also fit this dangerously unready category.
Defensive Truck Driving Tactics
Simply grasping technical gear shifting and backing components during brief training covers the fundamentals of getting a rig moving. However, avoiding collisions requires mastering predictive analysis and defensive response aptitudes that come with defensive driving training. This needs to be more prevalent among many inexperienced truck drivers. And it often leads to accidents. Identifying dangerous developments early and reacting responsibly means trucks stay safely in their lane rather than veering chaotically into neighboring traffic and pedestrians.
Truck Safety Best Practices
Finally, recently licensed truckers needing more detailed workplace guidance around evidenced safety best practices miss key preparation for confronting road situations professionally. For example, proper securing procedures preventing load shifts, maintaining extra stopping distances on slick roads, or activating warning flashers are vital real-world skills for accident avoidance.
Beefing up training with stringent testing while implementing greater apprenticeship mentorships can help produce licensed commercial vehicle operators ready for primetime driving free of preventable rookie errors. This can help avoid endangering everyone sharing the byways with these massive trucks.
Negligence by Trucking Companies
Beyond just their drivers, transport carriers as a whole make choices behind the scenes that impact safety.
Emphasizing Revenue Over Responsible Transportation
Years of slim profit margins pressure transport outfits constantly to optimize every route’s efficiency.
Unfortunately, many negligent trucking companies prioritize delivery speed over safety diligence – especially regarding rest requirements, equipment checks, and weather protocols. Unrealistic deadlines then get passed down to drivers through demanding dispatch decisions that amplify accident risks. These cost-cutting practices compromise safe conduct until they lead to catastrophic crashes.
Inadequate Equipment Maintenance
Many trucking companies, large and small, trim costly corners when possible to save money, often around maintenance elements. Letting repairs or parts swaps slide beyond reasonable life expectancies increases road safety risks if catastrophic breakdowns happen. Industry exemptions from routine mechanics inspections also enable avoidance of catching issues early.
In such cases, the only way to reduce trucking company liability is to be uncompromising regarding safety. By no longer tolerating business decisions elevating revenue over safety; top-down reform can ensure hazardous profit-first cultures cease enabling dangerous transportation practices.
Final Thoughts on Preventing Truck Accident
Catastrophic truck crashes arise from overlapping factors, including:
- tired truckers,
- distracted drivers
- Poor loading
- defective parts,
- icy interstates,
- trucker negligence, and
- inadequate training.
While targeting singular causes offers incremental improvements, system-wide collaborative commitment towards truck safety first policies is what promises a tremendous positive impact.
Eliminating preventative truck accidents requires addressing root motivations and emphasizing fast shipping above reasonable roadway diligence. So, strengthening corporate accountability through expanded liability for provable negligent transportation safety practices can incentivize dramatic reprioritization.
Of course, even optimized business reforms cannot prevent every severe truck collision. This means everyone still needs to stay informed about road safety practices. In the unfortunate event of an accident, seeking help recovering and securing fair compensation for damages that could have been avoided is necessary. This is where an experienced truck accident lawyer Near me guidance can help.
