Why Truck Accidents Are Much More Dangerous Than Car Accidents

Car accidents can cause serious injuries and destruction, especially at high speeds. However, truck accidents surpass them in many ways, causing more catastrophic devastation for victims. What makes them so much more dangerous? Learn more about why truck accidents are far more hazardous than car accidents and help protect yourself on the road. 

Factors That Make Truck Accidents More Dangerous

When it comes to truck accidents vs car accidents, truck accidents take the lead in causing far more serious consequences for a variety of reasons.

Size and Weight Differences

When two passenger cars collide, they’re roughly the same size and weight. When a truck collides with a passenger vehicle, though, its larger size can lead to greater injuries. Since semi-trucks and other commercial vehicles outweigh a regular car, pickup truck, or sport utility vehicle, they exert more force on impact. 

Even at low speeds, a crash with a truck and a passenger vehicle can leave the occupants of the car in serious condition. At high speeds, they may not make it out alive. 

Stopping Time

Trucks are certainly heavier when they’re loaded with cargo, though even unloaded, they take much longer to come to a safe stop. If something causes them to have to stop suddenly, the truck driver needs time to stop this massive vehicle. By this simple rule of physics, truck accidents are far more dangerous. 

Hazardous Cargo

When trucks transport hazardous materials, there’s greater potential for devastation. Industrial chemicals can cause burns when they come into contact with motorists involved in an accident. They may also be highly combustible and explode. These materials must be handled with special care, or they can lead to injuries or fatalities in a crash. Hazardous substances can also cause harm to the environment, leading to more destruction for a community.

Potential for Projectiles

Even trucks that are transporting harmless goods can create horrific dangers for motorists. While construction equipment might be heavier, even household goods can fly loose during a sudden stop or when a truck jackknifes. These unsecured items can spread damage far and wide.

Blind Spots That Make Other Vehicles Invisible

Trucks have huge blind spots, and despite all their training, truckers may not see another motorist until it’s too late. Some may lose control, swerving back into their lane when trying to change lanes, and that could have consequences for anyone in the immediate vicinity.

What Causes Truck Accidents?

Since truck accidents are much more dangerous, it might make you wonder what causes them to occur. Most of the time, it can be related to driver error, while other times, there could be much more going on.

Truck Driver Fatigue

Truckers spend long hours driving roads throughout their states and across the country. It can be monotonous and lonely, though they’re mandated by the rules set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to take rest breaks after being on the road for a specified set of hours. 

Some truck drivers fear losing their jobs or facing consequences if they don’t get shipments to their destinations on time. They may keep going and alter the logs to finish the run, and in the process, may fall asleep behind the wheel of a massive truck.

Distracted Driving

With so many distractions on the road today, it’s a dangerous epidemic in and of itself. Drivers everywhere are busy texting, eating, and doing other tasks that they shouldn’t be engaging in while actively driving. Truck drivers also multitask while driving. If they’re going 55 mph, they could travel the length of a football field in just five seconds. It’s terrifying to think of how deadly an outcome can be when anyone is distracted while driving.

Intoxicated Driving

Truck drivers are subjected to alcohol and drug tests at random, though that doesn’t stop some of them from getting behind the wheel. The dangers of drunk driving are well known, and when an intoxicated driver is operating a large truck, it can be devastating.

Failure to Maintain the Vehicle

Trucks need to be inspected and maintained more than passenger vehicles. They log more miles and have more integral systems that must be checked regularly. Failing to maintain a truck at the proper interval could cause the brakes to fail or a tire to blow out. Truck drivers may report these issues to their trucking company, though it’s the trucking company that’s responsible for maintaining its fleet.

Inexperienced Drivers

The trucking industry is booming, and with demand continuing to rise for goods, it will keep growing. Trucking companies have been struggling to get qualified drivers to operate their trucks. In order to get drivers, they may look the other way and choose someone who is less credentialed or has a shoddy record. Lack of experience, as well as drivers with many violations, make it more likely that accidents will occur.

Who Is to Blame for a Trucking Accident?

If you’re injured in a truck accident, you will want to know who is responsible since that person will be held liable for your injuries and other financial losses. However, truck accidents are as complicated as they are dangerous. There may be multiple parties who share the blame, and while the truck driver is often the one in the hot seat, they may not be alone.

The trucking company could be to blame if evidence reveals they fudged the driving logs to keep out of trouble with the federal regulations. If the investigation turns up a failure to inspect or maintain the truck, and that mechanical failure caused the accident, then the trucking company would face liability.

Cargo loaders may be responsible, too, if they didn’t properly load or tie down the cargo. Mechanics that were negligent in their repairs, the parts manufacturers, or the truck manufacturer may be accountable too. Even another driver in a passenger vehicle could be at fault if they behaved negligently. For example, if another driver cut off the truck and the truck driver tried to avoid an accident but couldn’t, that driver would be held liable.

What Can You Do If You’re Hurt in a Truck Accident?

Suffering injuries in a truck accident could mean that you have a permanent disability. Many truck accident victims sustain injuries to the brain and spinal cord, and these injuries can have impacts for the rest of their lives. If you were paralyzed or will now be forced to adapt to another type of disability that hinders your livelihood, you have the right to file a truck accident lawsuit.

Before you take that step, it’s best that you make sure you take the following actions in the minutes, hours, and days after the truck crash.

Report the Accident

If you can, dial 911 and get police on the scene. Truck accidents can become a huge danger zone, especially if they’re transporting hazardous materials. First responders need to come and keep you and the community safe.

Get Medical Treatment

Truck accidents cause more severe injuries, and while you might not see any visible injuries, you may have internal bleeding, a brain injury, or another serious issue underneath the surface. Immediate medical care is essential to prevent a life-threatening outcome.

Document Your Truck Accident

Photos and videos can help paint a picture of the aftermath, though don’t forget to speak to witnesses and get statements from them, too. 

Contact a Truck Accident Attorney

You may not even be able to call the police or ask for medical treatment after your truck accident. Many victims in these scenarios wake up in a hospital bed, wondering how they got there. It can be incredibly traumatizing, especially when you learn how serious your injuries are from the accident. 

Contacting a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible helps you in many ways. Since you likely didn’t get evidence, your attorney can obtain traffic camera footage as well as the black box data and electronic logging device data from the truck before it’s erased. This evidence can help reveal what really happened and prove who is liable. 

Trucking insurance companies can be particularly difficult to deal with since the policies are larger. When they’re at fault for your injuries, you shouldn’t be denied a settlement or given one that’s too small to cover the medical bills you’ve incurred as a result of their negligence. 

There are many complexities involved, and these dangerous accidents truly call for legal assistance from someone who understands state and federal trucking laws as well as trucking insurance policies. Trucking companies will be armed with a team of lawyers, and injured victims should be sure to do the same to level the playing field.

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