In the last month, dear daddy kissed his beautiful wife and two little kids and bid goodbye before heading for office in the morning. After around 40 minutes, a phone call came from the city police that the man of the house has met an accident and is admitted to the hospital. Hurried and worried, the lady rushed to the aforesaid spot only to find her husband lying dead.
Upon inquiry, she came to know:- It was a massive truck accident.
The family car got ruined badly and is now under seize by the police.
It’s just an instance. Thousands of families were completely destroyed by deadly truck wrecks. In most of the times, the innocents suffer badly. The pro trucking companies block all the possible ways for the victims to go against them legally. Often, the former get released easily by disbursing less compensation or no repayment at all.
The fatal truck accidents are growing every year killing thousands of people worldwide. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has found out that each year, more than 4,000 people are killed in truck accident. Over 100,000 people are critically injured in the crashes.
Since 2009, the truck fatalities have grown manifold. The improving economy is triggering more cargo to be shipped on the highways and hence, the truck companies have immense loads of work pressure.
A limited number of trucks and excessive plying to ship the goods often lead to the vehicle’s damage that is not repaired at regular interval. Plus, the driver work in multiple shifts for earning more money. Trucks travel to a great distance, often interstates. The drivers don’t take any breaks in between the journey. The fatigued and sleepy drivers meet accidents. Then, overloading of the truck with more than the recommended cargo turns the vehicle, goods fall off from the truck and hit other small motors, get imbalanced, etc.
Jackknifing is a common scene. The trailer tractor often jackknife and cause accidents. It has been observed that drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol smash innocent people under the wheels. Distracted drivers who are attending phone calls, sending messages, eating while steering, looking at the hoardings or any particular person other than the road, etc. lead to hit the other cars, passers-by, street animals, etc. Less heavy semi-trucks with few cargos are vulnerable to jack-knife.
CNBC has conducted interviews with the victims, regulators, lawyers and industry from which a toxic fusion of reasons have been discovered. They have found that tired drivers, truck companies not screening faulty drivers, laziness of the government in enforcing new safety technologies for curbing accidents are the prime causes of the mishaps.
We can’t leave the passenger vehicles also as many times, these automobiles weave in and out insecurely near the heavy and speeding truck.
Trucking is the big support of the U.S. economy that is growing day by day. The industry and the government are cautious of putting several restrictions as it can suffer the country’s potential to do business.
The number of commercial trucks on the road has enlarged as the economy has recuperated. After the recession, the truck accidents took a hike. A data released by KPCC analysis of California Highway Patrol exposed the fact too.
If we look back at the history, we can see that in 2009, the truck crashes contributed only 4.8 % approximately. The number rose to around 5.6% by the year 2014. The majority of the fatal truck collisions happens due to the high speed on the rural roadways. The congested freeways also contributed to the factor. As per the rules, the stopping distance needed for the heavy trucks is at least 55 miles per hour which is more than double the length of a soccer field. But unfortunately, it’s hard to maintain on the crowded highways.
The risk aggravated at the interchanges of the freeways which are considered as the crash hotspots. Often, the vehicles have to change lanes where there is little space. From 2002 to 2014, the lane changing aspect has been described as the top-cited cause of truck strikes as per KPCC.
If we take California as our example, the freeways witnessed the highest number of truck accidents between 2010 and 2014.
The smaller car passengers are at the highest risk in the truck crashes. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 2015 data, around 97% of the killed victims in the truck catastrophes were passenger vehicle’s occupants.
Because of the huge size and ultra-heavyweight, the truck accidents are way more dangerous than other common vehicle accidents. So, if you face any crash related to a truck, immediately seek help from a truck wreck attorney.