Truck Accidents

Your Truck Accident Lawyer

Common Truck Accident Issues

In addition to being versed in the rules and regulations governing the trucking industry, your truck accident lawyer must also be prepared with a knowledge base about the specific technologies, insurance issues, multistate discovery practices, truck product liability issues, and other aspects of litigation unique to the commercial vehicle industry and this type of litigation. 

Some of the most common issues faced in commercial vehicle litigation include: 

• Truck driver fatigue: Hours of Service violations regulate the driving and rest periods of commercial bus and truck drivers to minimize drowsiness, which slows reaction times and promotes falling asleep at the wheel.  
• Truck driver distraction: Drivers distracted by smartphones and other electronic devices can cause accidents through inattention. 
• Rapid Response Teams: Trucking companies often contract and dispatch these teams to the crash site to mitigate their liability and any damages you may claim. They are often accused of destroying or tampering with evidence, interfering with law enforcement, and poor or skewed documentation. Our lawyers understand how rapid response teams work and the importance of prompt investigation. 
• Importance of inspection and maintenance: Noncompliance with safety FMCSA rules and regulations is a leading cause of tractor-trailer accidents.  
• Statutory background of federal trucking safety laws: Understanding the history of FMCSA regulations is key to comprehending the current regulatory structure 
• Defective product: When investigating commercial truck cases, we sometimes find that a defective product, such as a brake, tire, or hitch malfunction, is to blame. Truck accident lawsuits involving product liability open the door to claims against a third party. 

Truck Underride and Override Crashes

According to the Stop Underrides’ safety advocacy group, as many as 600 people die every year in truck underride accidents. Underrides often occur when a passenger vehicle collides with the back or side of a tractor-trailer or other large truck. The passenger vehicle goes under the truck, rendering the crashworthiness of the smaller vehicle useless. These and override crashes, in which a large heavy truck rides over the back of the passenger car, usually result in horrific, fatal injuries. 

Federal law requires that tractor-trailers and most other large heavy trucks be equipped with a rear underride guard – a steel structure that is supposed to prevent a passenger car from sliding under the back of a truck. No front or side underride guards are currently required on trailers in the U.S., although there has been a vigorous push to change that.  

More troubling still, the existing standards for rear underride guards are often inadequate and many rear guards fail to prevent underrides, even at relatively low speeds. Nobody deserves to die this way.