Big Rigs = Big Problems
We all know the feeling; the that uncomfortable tightening of the chest we get when we look into our rearview mirror and see an 80,000 pound 18-wheeler truck barreling down on our back bumper. This feeling is not entirely irrational According to statistics, such trucks cause thousands of collisions each year. Given a truck's size and weight, common sense tells us that a collision between a big rig and a car/suv is likely to turn out badly for the driver and passengers.
In a collision between a truck and a car, the fatalities occur in the automobile 98% of the time. To put concrete numbers on the problem, in 2004, such crashes killed almost 5,200 people (12% of all traffic fatalities) and injured 6,000 more. This is the equivalent of 25 fully loaded jumbo jets crashing each year!
Some of the reasons are obvious: Trucks are bigger, heavier, and longer than cars. They need more room to maneuver and require more stopping distance. Many collisions involving trucks are caused by the same things that cause run-of-the-mill car accidents: poorly maintained trucks, speeding, aggressive driving, poor road surfaces and or bad weather conditions. There are however many other causes that are very avoidable.
One of the biggest causes of crashes is excessive truck size. Federal law currently limits trucks to no more than 80,000 pounds in weight, but an 80,000-pound truck is more than twice as likely to be involved in a fatal accident as a 50,000-pound truck; furthermore it causes more "wear and tear" to the roads. Trucks are also getting longer, with the industry-standard trailer having grown from 40 feet long in the 1960s to 53 feet long today. Longer trucks mean larger blind spots, resulting in more accidents.
Additionally, many roads (including interstates) were designed when trucks were shorter, and their ramps and merge lanes were not designed to handle today's longer trucks. As a result, these trucks cross over into other lanes of traffic, increasing the danger of a collision. Larger, longer, and heavier trucks require more braking time, meaning that they are more likely to be in a collision because they cannot stop. For example, a truck weighing 100,000 pounds can take up to 25% longer to stop than one weighing 80,000 pounds does. Other truck accidents are caused by a driver's inexperience, tired truckers and the changes in the way goods are shipped to a "just-in-time" delivery system. These are increasing problems are partially caused due to deregulation of the trucking industry.
Unfortunately, lawsuits against trucking companies are often more difficult to prove than other kinds of crashes, for several reasons. First, it may be difficult to find the trucker after the accident since he/she might be involved in a collision in a state far from where he 1ives and to which he may never return. Trucking companies are also very skilled in defending themselves against claims (which, to them, are just a part of doing business), and they can be very aggressive in denying claims, because every dollar that they pay out in compensation to may include compensation for accident victims is a dollar that does not go into their pockets.
Finally, most commercial big rig accidents involve far more parties than the typical fender bender (the driver, the trucking company, multiple other drivers, the shipper(s), the insurance adjuster) just to name the most common entities. As such the legal relationships among all of these organizations can be quite difficult to unravel, especially without adequate representation.
Persons who have been involved in a crash with a tractor trailer truck are entitled to recover damages to compensate him/her for injuries, medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, companionship with your loved ones and future earning capacity. The complexity of these cases means that you should consult an experienced attorney (like Staum & Ostfeld) and should NOT rely on the trucking company's insurance adjuster to look out for your best interests.
Call us if you, a friend or a loved one has been involved in a big-rig collision. We will then discuss the matter for free and work with you to try and obtain just compensation.
The information disseminated at this website is generalized. It does not constitute legal advice. Moreover, no formal Attorney-Client relationship exists. For questions about your specific legal problem, contact us immediately! The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on an advertisement. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience.
Copyright © 2011 by The Law Offices of Staum and Ostfeld, P.A. All rights reserved.
