TRUCKING ACCIDENTS
Blind Spot Truck Accidents in Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs Blind Spot Truck Accident Law Firm
When truck drivers fail to check their blind zones, many accidents involving tractor-trailers, semi-cars, 18-wheelers, and other big trucks occur. All Colorado Springs truckers must use caution to avoid colliding with passenger cars, other trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, and pedestrians when driving a truck.
On our roads, truck accidents are a daily occurrence. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, nearly 4,100 individuals perish in crashes involving heavy trucks in the United States every year (IIHS). Passengers in passenger cars were responsible for 67 percent of the deaths.
When sharing the road with trucks, car drivers need to be aware of a truck’s blind areas, often known as no-zones. This may help you avoid crashes that might have been avoided. Truckers, however, may cause avoidable accidents if they do not check their blind spots.
The wounded person might be entitled to financial compensation if they were hurt in an accident caused by a trucker’s failure to monitor their blind areas effectively. Call a Colorado Springs truck accident lawyer right once to discuss your options if this occurs to you.
Types of Truck Accidents
Where Are the Blind Spots on Trucks?
Blind spots are regions where a motorist loses sight of other cars while driving. While a car lingers in a truck’s blind areas, the driver cannot detect it when checking his side mirrors.
Trucks have blind zones on all four sides, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
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Immediately in front of the truck
A 20-foot blind zone extends beyond the hood in front of the truck, preventing the driver from seeing what’s going on right in front of them. If a truck driver cannot see your car in front of their car, particularly if the truck is not following a reasonable distance, a rear-end collision is probable.
The driver’s side of the car
The blind area on the left is smaller than the no-zone on the right. It may, however, still extend back to about a third or half of the trailer’s length. A collision is likely to occur if someone is loitering in this blind zone and the truck driver moves into the left lane.
The passenger’s side of the car
The right-hand no-zone on a truck may be rather broad, spanning multiple lanes from the front of the car to the back of the trailer. This blind zone is three lanes wide and stretches rearward diagonally. If an car is lingering in the right-hand blind zone or attempting to pass a truck on the right, the truck driver is likely to change lanes or make a wide right turn, causing a collision.
To the rear of the car or trailer
Truckers have limited sight for around 30 feet behind the truck or trailer since cars do not have rear-view mirrors within the cab. A rear-end or underride collision is probable if other cars fail to maintain a safe distance behind the truck.
As a general rule, if you can’t see yourself in the truck’s side mirrors, you’re in the truck’s blind area and invisible to the driver.
Blind Spots in Trucks are Dangerous
Trucks, like other cars, have blind spots, but because of their length and height, they have large no-zones. Certain areas of the route are inaccessible to truck drivers due to their size.
A truck driver’s side-view mirrors alone are often insufficient to avoid a blind area collision. Before executing risky movements like changing lanes, turning, or passing, a trucker may be compelled to check over their shoulder.
While it may not always be feasible to avoid entering a truck’s blind areas, it is critical to recognize when you are in those no-zones so that you may avoid staying too long and be as visible as possible.
If you stay unseen to a truck driver or remain in a blind area for an extended time, the truck driver may be unaware of your existence near the car and may smash into you while changing lanes or turning.
When a truck accident happens due to a trucker failing to properly remove their blind areas before moving the car, the injured person has the right to pursue compensation for their injuries, property damage, and other losses. To hold the trucker and other accountable parties, including the driver’s employer, responsible for the crash, a professional lawyer may be required.
Truck Blind Spot Accidents: What Causes Them?
While truck blind spot accidents may happen for various reasons, the majority of them are caused by driver mistakes.
The following are the most typical causes of truck accidents with blind spots:
- Failure to keep a safe distance
- Driving aggressively or recklessly
- Failure to indicate lane changes or turns.
- Going beyond the posted speed limit
- Isolating other cars
- Driving when exhausted or sleepy 6. Failing to pay attention to the road
- Driving when inebriated or under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Truck drivers cause a substantial majority of blind spot truck collisions.
- If the truck driver:
- Drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Failed to check their side mirrors and look over their shoulder to clear blind spots before performing dangerous maneuvers
- lacked the necessary training or qualifications to drive large trucks
- Failed to keep a proper lookout for cars around the truck, an injured party may hold the truck driver liable for the accident.
- The side mirrors were not correctly aligned to minimize no-zones.
- While driving a truck, they were distracted by their cell phones or other mobile gadgets.
- Exceeded the speed limit or drove too quickly for the weather or road conditions
- Violated federal trucking standards by driving when tired, sleepy, or tired
In many cases, determining guilt in a truck accident requires a lengthy and exhaustive investigation.
The Most Common Types of Truck Blind Spot Collisions
Truck accidents resulting from a trucker’s inability to observe blind areas may result in a variety of collisions, including:
Collisions with the back of the car. When a truck rear-ends a car in front of it or another car collides with a truck from behind, this accident occurs. When a trucker fails to spot a car right in front of them or behind the truck or trailer, this kind of accident is prevalent.
Collisions on the side of the road
When another car tries to pass a truck on the left or right side, and the trucker chooses to change lanes or turn, these accidents are likely to occur.
Collisions on the side
T-bone collisions are another name for these types of collisions. A side-impact collision occurs when a car remains in the truck’s side blind zone and subsequently swerves into the front blind region. As a consequence, the truck collides with another car’s side.
Accidents involving the underride
When a smaller car collides with the side or back of a truck, it is known as an underride collision. When a passenger car remains in the blind area behind a truck or trailer, it will likely slip beneath it.
According to the IIHS, underride collisions account for over half of all fatal truck accidents.
Who Is Responsible for Truck Blind Spot Collisions?
When a truck accident occurs due to a trucker’s lack or inability to perceive other cars in the blind areas, there may be many guilty parties. When a truck driver’s irresponsibility causes an avoidable collision, he or she is often the sole one to blame. However, a truck driver is not the only person who may be held responsible for a truck blind spot collision.
If the truck driver fails to take appropriate care while driving the car, he or she might be held liable for causing the collision. Failure to check side mirrors before moving, driving while distracted by a mobile phone, and speeding are all instances of trucker carelessness.
Other factors
When crashes occur due to other cars lingering in the truck’s blind areas, truck drivers are not entirely to blame. For example, the driver may be held liable if another car fails to keep a safe distance, cuts off the truck, or otherwise fails to share the road with a truck with proper care.
If that truck subsequently collides with your car, you may be able to seek reimbursement from the third party as well.
The firm that employs the truck driver (the trucking company
The injured person might pursue a claim against the trucking firm that hired the truck driver if the truck driver was operating in the course and scope of his or her job when the truck blind spot accident occurred.
For example, the truck driver’s employer may be held accountable if they were negligent in recruiting the driver or failed to give sufficient training to the employee.
The car’s owner or manufacturer
If an accident occurs due to a mechanical breakdown or defect, the injured party may be able to sue the car’s owner or manufacturer. Car owners must examine and maintain their cars to avoid mechanical breakdowns, while manufacturers may be held accountable in the case of an accident caused by a car fault.
If a trucking accident was caused by inadequate road design or poor road conditions, the injured party might file a lawsuit against the government organization responsible for road maintenance.
For example, you might hold a government agency liable for negligent road maintenance if a truck driver makes a sudden lane shift to avoid striking a pothole but fails to detect a car in his blind areas.
A skilled attorney can undertake a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding your blind spot truck accident to assess blame and identify all parties responsible.
Truck Blind Spot Accidents: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Are the Most Dangerous Roads in Colorado Springs and Colorado for Truck Accidents?
Semi-cars, tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and other heavy trucks often travel Colorado’s dangerous roadways.
Truck accidents are common on the following highways:
- Powers Blvd.
- Woodmen Ave.
- North Academy Blvd.
- Interstate 70
- Interstate 25
- Interstate 270
According to the National Safety Council, Colorado accounted for just 6.4 percent of all heavy cars involved in fatal accidents.
What Kinds of Damages Can You Recover If You’re Involved in a Truck Blind Spot Accident?
If you were injured in a truck blind spot accident—or any other big truck accident, for that matter—you are likely facing huge medical expenses as well as additional financial, physical, and emotional losses and damages.
You may seek compensation as a truck accident victim by submitting a personal injury claim with an insurance company or launching a lawsuit against the at-fault party.
You may be entitled to compensation for the following damages, depending on the severity of your injuries and the complexity of your case:
- Medical expenses
- Wages lost
- Earning ability reduced or lost
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional sorrow and agony, as well as other emotional repercussions
- Disfigurement
- Permanent scars
- Loss of companionship
- Damage to property
- Loss of pleasure of life
Depending on the facts of your truck accident case, these and additional damages may be compensable. Consider calling an expert attorney to look at your case and assess what damages you may be able to claim.
In a truck accident case, how can you prove negligence?
When someone is injured due to another party’s failure to exercise reasonable care while driving a motor car, that person is considered negligent. However, demonstrating negligence may be difficult, particularly if you lack sufficient evidence to show that the other party did not exercise reasonable care.
What Proof Do You Require to Prove Negligence?
To establish that the other person was negligent, you must collect all relevant evidence.
Following a truck collision, you may be able to use the following evidence to show the other party’s negligence:
- A police report
- A trucker’s logbook
- A driver’s cell phone records
- A driver’s driving records
- Witness testimonies
- Photos from the accident area
- Video footage from the accident location
- Expert witness testimony
Suppose you believe a truck blind spot accident happened due to a truck driver’s carelessness. In that case, you should consult with a lawyer who can assist you in determining what caused the accident and gathering evidence to prove the truck driver’s conduct.
Why Do You Need a Skilled Truck Accident Lawyer in Colorado Springs ?
Colorado Springs Truck Accident Attorney Jeremy D. Earle, JD
Suppose you were injured in a truck accident. In that case, you should consult with an experienced attorney who can help you assess liability, estimate the worth of your case, collect evidence, negotiate with insurance companies, and fight for the highest possible compensation.
It may be difficult to prove that a truck driver failed to sufficiently monitor their blind areas, which is why having a qualified Colorado Springs truck accident attorney on your side can help you win your case.
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