A “recipe for disaster.”
Those are words borne out of experience that are offered by a proven New York legal source on truck crashes and resulting injuries.
Such outcomes are common across the state. They are certainly realized with sad regularity in Saratoga County and surrounding areas.
Why are truck accidents so instantly concerning?
A remark that truck crashes are a truly big deal is made in a most literal sense. Although some trucks (e.g., passenger pickups) are not notably large, many others are.
In fact, they are veritable roadway monsters, flatly dwarfing other vehicles that seek to share roadway space with them.
Drivers in passenger vehicles are constantly attuned to that sheer size and girth. A rig like a semi-truck or tractor-trailer can easily weigh 10 times or more than surrounding conveyances.
Moreover, a commercial truck is wide and lengthy, and often laden with cargo weighing scores of thousands of pounds. Outsized dimensions and many additional factors render big rigs a serious safety concern. Injury-inducing catalysts include these:
- Comparatively slow stopping time (large trucks eat up major road space when slowing or seeking to stop)
- Blind spots that materially hinder peripheral visibility for truckers
- Diminished performance in bad weather and dangerous road conditions
- Often exacting scheduling dictates that keep drivers on the road for prolonged periods
- improper/subpar vehicle maintenance and repair
- industry acknowledged problems with driver alcohol/substance abuse and behind-the-wheel fatigue
Those issues and additional concerns can – indeed, sadly often do – come into play both singly and collectively to cause crashes yielding catastrophic consequences for drivers and passengers in other vehicles. Truck accidents also routinely imperil the lives of motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Two key points to note concerning truck crash outcomes
Unsurprisingly, truck accident injuries are often severe, even deadly. Crash victims suffer a wide range of ailments, including head trauma, broken bones, lacerations and disfigurement, burns, internal bleeding, spine injuries and more.
And then there is this, as noted by the above-cited source. It duly stresses that “it’s not just the driver who can be held responsible” in a crash. A notable fact about truck crashes is that third-party negligence can be broad-based and diffuse. That is, a driver’s fault can be coupled by a lack of due care from a trucking company, parts manufacturer, maintenance provider and additional parties.
Accident victims have a legal right to secure a meaningful remedy for injuries caused by every negligent actor. A proven and results-oriented personal injury attorney can help them pursue a case outcome marked by maximum compensation.