Trucking accidents are honestly some of the most serious and devastating crashes you’ll see on our highways. When you’re talking about vehicles that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds fully loaded, even what seems like a minor mistake can turn into an absolute catastrophe with life-changing injuries and massive financial consequences.
A lot of people who get caught up in these accidents start thinking about the financial side pretty quickly, including questions about average truck accident settlements. These can vary wildly depending on how serious the injuries are, what kind of damages occurred, and who was actually at fault for the crash.
But honestly, the best outcome is never having to deal with any of this in the first place. Understanding what actually causes trucking accidents and figuring out how drivers and trucking companies can prevent them is absolutely essential for keeping our highways safer for everyone.
Driver Fatigue
Driver fatigue may be the single greatest killer in trucking accidents. Think about it; drivers are on the road for hours and hours, regardless of the time of day/sleep cycle, and they are driving with inappropriate schedules/fatigue. Now, while it is bad enough to sometimes get tired or fall asleep in a car, try controlling an 80,000-pound vehicle, that can be disastrous.
There are Federal Hours-of-Service regulations limiting driver fatigue, limiting the time a driver can be on duty and/or ‘driving’, and requiring rest breaks. Unfortunately, due to business environments and the requirement to deliver within time constraints, it is difficult to replace this issue and manage limitations.
The following are signs of drowsy driving; drifting lanes, missing exits, continuous yawning or simply trying to keep your eyes open. These signs are very important for all drivers but particularly commercial vehicle drivers to consider as indicators for driver fatigue. Falling asleep at the wheel of a big rig could be detrimental to someone.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is dangerous to all drivers but when truck drivers are distracted the consequences could be catastrophically impacted by their weight and trailer where they cannot stop as quickly or maneuver as quickly into the unexpected. The size and weight of the vehicle that they are driving makes the way they operate their vehicle with distractions even that much more dangerous.
Distractions come in many forms such as using phones for conversation or texting, eating while driving, adjusting GPS, adjusting radio controls or anything that takes your attention away from the road is a distraction. The risk of a distracted glance in a passenger car is risky but when they are moving cargo down the highway you are exponentially higher at risk.
Several trucking companies are implementing technology to combat some of the distractions including systems that limit how phone functions operate while a vehicle is in motion, or cameras to monitor driver behavior that will alert the driver when not focused on the road.
Company policies, which prohibit multitasking and have consequences for distracted driving, could bring about a change in distracted driving behavior.
Improper Load and Cargo Shift
Improper load is one of those causes that does not get too much thought, but can be a very substantial cause of accidents in trucking. If cargo is loaded improperly or not secured correctly, it can shift while traveling which in turn can change the center of gravity for the truck and greatly affect the ability of the truck to steer correctly in cases of quick stops, sudden turns and emergency maneuvering.
Unbalanced loads increase the chance of rollover accidents, which is a particular hazard due to the size and weight of the truck. Even when the truck does not roll over, improperly secured cargo, or improperly loaded cargo, can make it very difficult for the driver to maintain control.
There are specific Federal regulations pertaining to how cargo must be secured, however these only potential way to fix the issue of cargo that is not secured is if the regulations are adhered to. Aside from administrative errors, the regulations provide guidance on how tie-downs must be used with a load, weight distribution as well as checking that the load is secured before traveling.
Speed and Aggressive Driving
Trucks need much more time, distance and stopping ability than passenger vehicles. When truck drivers engage in either speeding or aggressive driving, they are inherently putting themselves into danger, and they are also putting everyone else at risk due to their inability to respond aptly when other traffic situations change.
While there are many contributing factors to speeding and aggressive driving, a great deal of this aggressive driving is due to the expectations of a schedule. There are times dispatchers and trucking companies will cause a driver to take risks that they would not take if they did not have a schedule.
Speeding is not just accelerating the odds of crashing, it is also exponentially increasing the magnitude of the size of the crash, if one occurs. A crash at a high rate of speed involving a truck will have a much more likely chance to cause serious injuries or death, compared to a crash that happens at a normal rate of speed.
Mechanical Failures and Poor Maintenance
Truck driving is a complicated machine, so complicated in fact that there are many moving parts that break. When something is broken mechanically there can be many catastrophic results. We’re talking about brake failures, tire blowouts, steering problems, and issues regarding lighting or signals that make it difficult for other drivers to see the truck.
Federal regulations say that things should be maintained in a timely manner, and that there should be regular inspection, inspection is good and important. Those regulations are useless if the trucking company does not follow the rules and regulations regarding taking maintenance seriously – cutting corners on maintenance due to financial reasons or time spent for maintenance.
Decisions made by trucking companies have significant impact on whether or not there are safe fleets – decisions like whether or not to maintain the fleet at the appropriate levels, replace worn parts before they fail, and most importantly create maintenance schedules with the safety of the road vs the cost savings in mind.
Prevention is Everything
Are trucking accidents a disaster? Yes they can be, but most trucking accidents are entirely preventable if everyone making wise and reasonable decisions stick to the right protocols and procedures, find ways of preventing driver fatigue, maintain their vehicles correctly, minimize distractions for drivers, and a bunch of other right decisions that upon first thought do not seem very important but may come up big in terms of road safety.
This article on typical ongoing cause can not only keep truck drivers and truck companies safer, it can help all drivers make better decisions when sharing the road with these even larger vehicles.
The information we have provided as average settlements for a truck accident can help ensure victims are compensated after a catastrophic loss or situation, but we would always rather see truck accidents not happen at all, for every driver’s safety out on the highways.
