About one in every eight motor vehicle accidents involves an 18-wheeler. Sadly, these accidents often have tragic outcomes for drivers and passengers of smaller vehicles. An 80,000 pound 18-wheeler that loses its brakes, jack-knifes or is not able to stop in time and collides with a smaller vehicle will cause significant damage. Injuries sustained in an 18-wheeler accident can range from broken bones and lacerations to amputations and debilitating spinal cord injuries.
If you or someone you love is seriously hurt in an 18-wheeler accident, it is important that you contact an 18-wheeler accident lawyer immediately to protect your rights and recover the damages you deserve.
Why 18-Wheelers Crash
A leading cause of 18-wheeler accidents is trucker fatigue, which often results from unrealistic schedules. When drivers are pressured to make tight delivery deadlines, they tend to drive for hours at a time on little or no sleep. This can impair their judgment and reaction time, and the eyes to play tricks, especially at night. To stay awake for long drives, some truckers will also use both legal and illegal stimulants to stay awake. This can result in reckless driving behavior and excessive speeding, which increases the likelihood of an accident.
An 18-wheeler has significantly larger blind spots than other vehicles, so other drivers need to be especially careful when driving behind, in front of and alongside an 18-wheeler.
It is the truck driver’s responsibility to perform routine inspections and ensure that all vehicle parts are in good working order. If a driver fails to perform a pre-trip or post-trip inspection and worn parts are not detected and cause a crash, the driver should be held liable for your injuries.
The trucking company is responsible for sufficiently training all drivers of 18-wheelers. If a driver is not properly trained or licensed to handle the vehicle and an accident occurs because of it, that trucking company should pay.
Other factors that may result in an 18-wheeler accident include:
- Inclement weather
- Defective roadways
- Overloaded or imbalanced cargo
- Defective truck parts or safety equipment
Determining Liability
There are various parties who may be held responsible for your 18-wheeler accident. If more than one party is at fault, you may be able to seek compensation from multiple parties, based on the details of your situation. Common at-fault parties include:
- The truck driver who acts negligently
- Truck part designers who may design a faulty or dangerous truck part
- The 18-wheeler manufacturer who may build the truck incorrectly
- The marketing company who failed to warn consumers about potential hazards in the design
- Maintenance technicians who do not fix a truck part correctly
- Third-party inspectors who are responsible for ensuring safety
If you or someone you love has suffered an injury in an 18-wheeler accident, please call our 18-wheeler accident lawyers at 1-877-LOSS RECOVER (567-7732). Our attorneys offer free initial consultations, and you are never charged unless we recover compensation for you and your family. The statute of limitations is running out, so please call as soon as possible to discuss your possible 18-wheeler accident claim.