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The Responsibility of Truck Drivers

Carrying a maximum of 80,000 pounds of cargo on a truck bed is a huge responsibility that should be taken seriously. Unfortunately, not all truck drivers practice safe driving and understand the duties they must uphold when it comes to sharing the road with average sized vehicles. When a truck crashes into a passenger car, the scene can quickly become devastating and fatal.

If you have recently been in a collision due to a truck, we recommend contacting a truck accident attorney for legal support. You may be facing not only physical injuries, but financial and even emotional impacts as well. We can empathize with the need for professional legal assistance when seeking retribution for your losses.

How Truck Drivers Cause Accidents

There are many ways in which a truck driver can cause an accident. Listed here are the main ways trucks can become a danger to other vehicles while on the road.

  1. Truck driver fatigue
  2. Highway debris
  3. Excessive speed
  4. Losing control of the wheel
  5. Drifting in the lane
  6. Not stopping in time to vehicle ahead
  7. Swerving to avoid potholes or road imperfections
  8. Verging off side of the road
  9. Engine or mechanical failure
  10. Cargo shifting due to not being secured

Truck Driver Fatigue

Perhaps one of the main reasons truck drivers can cause a collision is due to fatigue. The nature of being a truck driver as a job includes making strict deadlines. The pressure to meet these time frames can influence a driver to spend endless hours behind the wheel, not take proper breaks, and suffer from lack of sleep. When the body becomes severely deprived of rest, it may go into brief periods of micro-sleep in a desperate attempt to regain rest. Even a few seconds of this micro-sleep is enough to cause a driver to become distracted.

Insufficient Training

Truck drivers who are new or have not received sufficient training in order to operate a commercial truck can be greatly risking the lives of those around them on the road. Trucking is considered a high-risk job that requires constant attention, skill and strategy. Even the most brief of daydreaming can result in swerving into another lane or verging off the road entirely.

How an Attorney Can Support You

During this time, you may have an accumulation of bills piling high for medical costs due to your injuries. Emergency visits, diagnostics, treatments, chiropractic care and surgery can add up rapidly. We believe you should not have to pay for an accident due to another driver’s negligence, carelessness or lack of training. We recommend maintaining a file with all relevant medical documents and receipts related to your injuries. This paperwork may be needed if you decide to file a civil lawsuit against the driver at-fault.

Contact us right away so we can get started working for your compensation. If you need help with a truck accident, reach out to an experienced truck accident lawyer New York, NY needs for assistance.

 

Thank you to Okun | Oddo & Babat, P.C, Attorneys at Law for providing their insight and expertise on truck drivers and their responsibility.