Operating an 18-wheel truck requires a special license and special training to be sure that the driver can handle the task physically and mentally. There are strict regulations in place with which truck drivers have to comply in the interest of preventing a collision with a passenger vehicle. If such a collision does occur, it can be devastating for the occupants of the car or pickup because of the huge weight advantage a truck has over a passenger vehicle.
Nevertheless, despite the measures in place to prevent them, collisions between trucks and passenger vehicles do occur. When the driver of the truck is at fault, one of the following factors may be behind the accident.
1. Speed
A vehicle the size and weight of an 18-wheeler needs more time and space to come to a complete stop than a smaller vehicle. The faster it is going, the greater the stopping distance will be. Nevertheless, truckers are sometimes expected to meet unreasonable deadlines within which to deliver their cargo. In some cases, the only solution they can see is to speed to their destination rather than observing the posted limit or taking road conditions into consideration. Unfortunately, more speed also means that the truck can strike with more force in a collision with a smaller vehicle.
2. Fatigue
The same unreasonable deadlines that may induce a truck driver to speed may also prevent him or her from getting as much rest as is necessary to stay alert while behind the wheel. There are regulations in place requiring drivers to get a minimum amount of sleep, but these are not always enforced. Even if the driver gets the required hours’ rest, the quality of sleep may not be the best. Some drivers may try to increase alertness by using illicit stimulant drugs, which can further impair driving ability.
3. Distractions
If a distraction is anything that removes one’s attention momentarily from the task of driving, then everyone who operates a motor vehicle, large or small, is susceptible to distracted driving from time to time. However, truckers travel long distances, sometimes over open stretches of highway for hours at a time, which can be very boring. Therefore, the temptation to engage in distracting behavior, e.g., cell phone use, can be very strong.
It is not only the driver who may be liable in a truck accident. Depending on the circumstances, trucking companies and manufacturers of the vehicle itself may be held accountable, as a truck accident lawyer in Houston, TX like one from John K. Zaid & Associates can explain. Contact our office if you or a family member have been seriously injured in a truck accident.