TRUCKING ACCIDENTS

Negligent Driving Truck Accidents in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs Negligent Driving Truck Accident Law Firm

It may be challenging to navigate Colorado’s roadways. Weather conditions, road dangers, and traffic congestion exacerbate the difficulty of going from point A to point B. Combining these factors may sometimes lead to a driver making unsafe actions that result in truck accidents.

These irresponsible actions are already dangerous when performed in a tiny passenger car, but they may become significantly more deadly when performed by massive commercial vehicles. Navigating the highways with a commercial car is challenging enough without resorting to risky high-risk stunts.

Semi-truck accidents are caused by tailgating.

Tailgating occurs when a semi-truck driver follows behind a smaller car or even another truck too closely. When a truck driver follows another car so closely, they put themselves in grave danger of causing an accident.

Tailgating is dangerous for any car, but it’s hazardous for commercial vehicles. A semi-truck has a far greater danger of rear-ending another car due to tailgating. Because of the size and weight of a semi-truck, braking is much more difficult owing to all of the momenta behind the car and trailer that must be halted.

For effective braking, commercial trucks often need several car lengths between them and the car in front of them. This allows the driver to gently let off the brakes and bring the car to a stop rather than slamming them.

The truck and trailer are in danger of jackknifing if a truck is tailgating and is forced to slam on the brakes. This occurs when a trailer’s motion causes it to fold down the side of a car approaching a halt. As you would expect, a truck was jackknifing collision, which may be disastrous for all cars involved.

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Changing lanes raises the risk of a truck accident.

Transferring from one lane to another is always dangerous. However, specific environments are very hazardous. When commercial trucks travel across America’s interstates to deliver their products, they will almost always have to participate in lane swapping at some point.

A commercial truck driver must swap lanes while maneuvering a 70-80 foot long tractor-trailer from one 12 foot wide road. To say the daunting undertaking is an understatement, given the over 80,000 pounds of freight and car contained inside the 70-80 foot length.

The fact that semi-trucks have multiple blind areas that a car can readily fill makes lane changes for commercial trucks hazardous. When a car drives into one of a truck’s blind zones while trying to change lanes, the effects may be disastrous.

Blind spots on a commercial tractor-trailer may be found in the trailer’s immediate back, near the rear and left of the driver’s side of the cab, close to the right side of the truck cab, and in the closed front of the cab. The closed front is unimportant, but the immediate left and right of a driver’s truck cab may readily conceal compact cars.

When it comes to big trucks, it’s more dangerous to run yellow lights.

It is unsafe to rush to make it through a yellow light with a truck and trailer 70-80 feet long. This doesn’t deter some truck drivers. Because stopping a commercial car is a significant endeavor, a semi-truck building up speed to get it through a yellow light might rear-end cars.

A car might potentially completely fail to beat the yellow light, speeding straight through a red light and into oncoming traffic. Because brakes would be as useless as gently requesting the truck to halt at that moment, the truck would slam into any unfortunate cars in its path like a sledgehammer through the drywall.

Commercial Trucks and U-Turns Can Be Dangerous

Some truck drivers make terrible decisions when doing a U-turn or backing into a parking area. They may try the move on congested roads or in low-visibility regions of the road, such as at a blind turn or a slope.

Slow down a little while turning curves or cresting hills if you come across a large lorry blocking your route. Do the same thing if it’s foggy or raining heavily. In these conditions, colliding with a trailer might result in an under-ride accident, which can be deadly.

When a truck tries to do a U-turn, it undertakes a time-consuming procedure that exposes them to danger. Truck drivers may sometimes risk performing u-turns in areas where this susceptibility might result in a truck accident.

A truck driver, for example, may have misread a map and discovered they were heading in the wrong direction. In haste to get back on the right track, they take a chance and do a dangerous U-turn just before a curve in the road to avoid losing time. A car rounds the turn a bit too quickly and bangs into the trailer, underrides it, while the length of the trailer is being brought to bear over the opposite lane.

Thru Yellow Lights in a Hurry

When cars do this technique, it is deadly enough. However, when a trucker commits to beating a yellow light, his rig will be unable to stop or swerve if the light turns red and traffic in the cross lanes approaches the crossing. Always watch for cross traffic when you obtain a green light. Wait for a moving semi-truck to pass through the crossing if you see one.

In Big Rigs, Passing is Riskier.

Regular motorists take the simple act of passing slow-moving cars that jam up traffic for granted. Passing and overtaking another car is a dangerous operation for semi-trucks since it involves a series of dangerous actions in and of itself.

First, the car must change lanes while avoiding any cars hiding in its blind zones. The truck must then accelerate and pray that the car in front of them does not slam on their brakes since stopping the truck is difficult due to the acceleration. The car must then swap lanes once again.

A commercial truck accident may occur if anything goes wrong in those areas. It is responsible to truck drivers to reduce the danger of accidents by not putting strangers on the road in circumstances where a single mistake might mean life or death.

Changing lanes quickly

On the left and right sides of a semi-truck, there are large blind areas. The cautious truck driver overcomes this by gently changing lanes and communicating his intentions well ahead. Truckers that switch lanes quickly are actively fighting with traffic for space. If you observe a truck do this technique once, expect it to do it again. Unless you can pass the car several lanes over, avoid doing so. Remember that overtaking the truck might imply an angry truck driver is pursuing you.

If you opt to follow the truck, you risk being involved in a rollover disaster. This may occur when a truck driver becomes distracted by passing traffic and fails to consider the risk of a rollover induced by excessive lane weaving on a curved portion of the roadway.

Fatigue in the Driver

The trucking business has a severe issue with driver weariness. Truck drivers work long hours and have rigorous schedules, although they are prescribed and restricted by law. When they should be taking breaks and relaxing, some truck drivers push themselves to remain awake on long-haul rides.

Furthermore, truck drivers are often rewarded to encourage them to travel faster and for more extended periods than is safe. To fulfill deadlines, a truck may travel in potentially hazardous weather conditions. This might lead drivers to lose attention and disregard safe driving practices.

Driving methods, as well as causing collisions. The most prevalent cause of driving mistakes is fatigue. Fatigue is responsible for almost 40% of all truck accidents.

Driver Is Distracted

Like passenger car drivers, Truckers are often involved in accidents due to inattention and distraction. Drivers get bored on the road after driving for several hours across great distances and are always looking for anything to keep them interested. They perform one of the various things to get rid of their boredom.

Is the driver drinking, eating, daydreaming, or texting? The most popular is reading or responding to text messages, making phone conversations, visiting their favorite social networking sites on their phones, and changing the radio station in the car.

At the same time, driving has also been linked to distracting drivers and causing accidents. Certain radio stations have poor coverage in particular places. When traveling across the nation, This prompts the drivers to go for their radios and tune in to a station they can hear.

This occurs even when traveling at a high pace on the motorway. When a motorist takes his eyes off the road for even a fraction of a second, it might be the difference between safety and causing an accident.

Driving While Intoxicated

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is unlawful in every state. Many truck drivers have been found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol or non-prescription medications while on the job.

Prescription and over-the-counter medications are a significant problem since they frequently impair the driver’s ability to correctly manage such a massive truck. Some people consume these narcotics at rest areas throughout the nation, while others take it a step further and drive while intoxicated.

Their driving gets affected regardless of how they take these drugs, and they are more likely to cause accidents. Accidents on the road may be caused by various factors, not only illicit substances.

Some prescription medicines that drivers may be using have impaired coordination and judgment, resulting in road accidents. Drivers of commercial vehicles are held to a higher level than drivers of passenger cars and the general public.

Because a semi-truck’s size, weight, and power make them an inherent threat to others on the road, they are only permitted a small amount of alcohol in their system. Drivers value safety above all else, and semi-trucks are held to a higher standard because of the heightened danger of injury or death. Drivers who are drunk pose a serious risk to themselves and others on the road.

Having Loads That Aren’t Secure

Whatever product the truck is transporting must be securely packed and secured so that the weight is spread equally throughout the car. A truck’s chances of being involved in an accident increase if the weight is not distributed appropriately. This is particularly true while turning or stopping.

When a product is not adequately secured or stowed on a flyer, it has the potential to fly off the trailer and into the path of another car, posing a danger or causing a car accident.

Liquid Loads with a Low Fill Level

Liquids such as gas and oil are transported by many cars. These trucks were designed to contain a certain quantity of liquids before they were full. Keeping the truck half filled may be risky since the liquids can splash about in the trailer, causing the car to wobble back and forth with curves and changes in speed. Additionally, a motorist may lose control and cause an accident if a liquid moves suddenly.

Rear-End Collisions

One of the worst forms of collisions is a rear-end collision. This sort of collision occurs when a semi-truck driver fails to stop or slow down in time to avoid colliding with the car in front of them—the truck slams into the back of the car, frequently with considerable force. An car is not designed to withstand such force and would most certainly disintegrate. In the case of a rear-end collision, all car passengers are in danger of injury. Backseat passengers are at a higher risk of harm in these circumstances.

Training Deficit

Truck drivers are in great demand, and trucking firms aren’t always doing enough to teach or improve their drivers’ abilities. Because trucks are massive, this may result in serious and catastrophic accidents.

Before being authorized to operate large commercial vehicles on public highways, truck drivers must complete a specified number of hours of training and achieve certain minimum standards. Not all truck drivers, however, follow these rules. You’ll receive a truck driver that isn’t well-trained and has limited experience behind the wheel.

Inadequate Maintenance

Trucking businesses are obliged by law to repair and keep their trucks in safe operating condition. However, since servicing semi-trucks incur money and take time, it reduces profit margins while making deliveries. Similarly, truck owners are obliged by law to ensure that their cars are in good working order before taking on the road.

They don’t usually do this because of the price and time it takes to maintain the cars, which might be spent making deliveries. One of the leading causes of truck accidents is badly maintained cars operated by inadequately qualified drivers.

Brakes

According to the National Highway Safety Administration, braking failure is involved in at least 29 percent of truck accidents. This may be caused by a lack of maintenance, moisture, or overheating, among other things.

The federal government requires trucking businesses and drivers to keep track of their braking conditions at all times. Several parties may cause brake failure. Manufacturers and designers might be held liable as well. One of the leading causes of truck accidents is poorly maintained cars.

Tires

Another prevalent issue in huge truck accidents is the car’s tires. With so much depending on them, they must keep operating safely at all times. Tire blowouts may be caused by design flaws, poor maintenance, and a lack of thorough inspection, all of which can result in significant damage.

In Colorado, look for a qualified truck accident lawyer.

When commercial truck drivers engage in dangerous maneuvers, they risk causing significant damage and injury for which they may be held accountable. Tailgating or running yellow lights are examples of reckless disregard for safety that may lead to a motorist being liable in a truck accident damage lawsuit.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a commercial truck accident, call Warrior Trucking Accident Attorneys for a free consultation about your case. Our experienced attorneys have the knowledge and experience you need to get the payment you deserve.

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