The type of truck accident you've been in can tell you a lot about who is likely to be held liable for it.
Truck accidents frequently fall into one of four general categories. The following is a brief description of each of these four different categories or types of accident. Think about what type of accident you've been in to analyze how you should go about defending your side in arguing your case.
Rear-end accidents
Rear-end accidents can involve a truck rear-ending another vehicle or a car riding behind a truck rear-ending the truck and damaging the truck's trailer and/or its load.
Vehicles can frequently collide with the back of a truck because motorists often have a bad habit of tailgating trucks while truck drivers often have to deal with a blind spot in the area directly behind their trailer. Trucks should have notices posted on the back of their trailers warning motorists to stay back because of the blind spot issue.
If it can be shown that a car or another type of vehicle rear-ending a truck even though a warning was posted, the driver of this vehicle should fairly easily be proven to be liable.
Vehicle rollovers
Unfortunately, rollover accidents tend to be highly costly and can also result in severe injuries. Rollover accidents generally occur because tractor trailers tend to have a high center of gravity. However, trailers that are not properly loaded can cause a rollover crash incident by leading to unsafe driving conditions.
In a rollover accident, the loading of the trailer will be scrutinized and the party responsible for handling the loading and understanding the weight capacity regulations for the particular tractor trailer model may be held liable.
Jackknife accidents
A jackknife accident describes a situation where the cab is unable to control the trailer and the trailer bends forward when the driver in the cab attempts to brake. This can cause the tractor trailer to lose control and crash into oncoming traffic or into slower traffic up ahead of the truck.
Like a rollover accident, a jackknife accident frequently leads a to a situation where the party responsible for loading the truck is scrutinized and potentially held liable.
Crashes involving cornering issues for the truck driver
One of the most significant engineering challenges of designing a tractor trailer assembly is allowing for complete driver control despite cornering challenges. Cornering issues cause a lot of truck accidents because of a truck's high center of gravity, blind spots, and overall size.
If a truck accident occurs because the driver was unable to control the truck when cornering, the manufacturer or designer of the truck equipment could potentially be held liable. However, it is sometimes argued that the truck driver attempted to go around a corner at excessively high speeds so that the driver could be held liable.
For more information, contact companies like Carter & Fulton, P.S.
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