Why You Need a Attorney on Your Side
If you or a loved one is a victim of a semi-truck collision, you understand it is a dangerous and traumatic experience. Many factors play a role in just how perilous the situation can become, including whether the crash involves a bicyclist or pedestrian, the speed in which both parties are traveling, where the impact takes place, ejection from the vehicle, road and weather conditions, and more. Today’s post covers semi-truck accidents and the consequences they pose from a Charleston truck accident attorney.
Truck driver negligence worsens collisions and may include:
● Driving more consecutive hours than allowed by law
● Changing lanes without signaling
● Speeding
● Tailgating
● Driving drunk or under the influence of drugs
Company negligence also comes into play when trucks are not maintained, drivers aren’t sufficiently trained or vehicles are overloaded or incorrectly loaded.
To make matters worse, you can expect the trucking company involved in the accident will assemble a team of investigators, insurance claim adjusters, and attorneys as they set out to deny all liability. For these reasons and a host of others, we recommend you hire an experienced team of personal injury lawyers to preserve all available evidence and begin building your case.
Semi-Trucks Defined
**The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration defines a truck tractor as a “vehicle configuration consisting of a power-unit designed to draw/pull a semi-trailer. Thus, the truck tractor itself has no cargo-carrying capability without an attached semi-trailer. A semi-trailer is constructed so that some part of the weight rests upon the power unit. **” Examples of semi-trucks: 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers, logging trucks or other types of commercial trucks.
The Numbers on Large Truck Crashes
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports “trucks often weigh 20-30 times as much as passenger cars and are taller with greater ground clearance, which can result in smaller vehicles under riding trucks in crashes.” IIHS reports 45 percent of large truck occupant deaths in 2018 occurred in crashes in which their vehicles rolled over.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:
- There were approximately 499,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks in 2018
- 4,415 (1 percent) were fatal crashes
- 107,000 (21 percent) were injury crashes
In the fatal crashes reported:
- 21 percent were single-vehicle crashes (bicyclist, pedestrian, non-motorized vehicle, etc.)
- 62 percent involved two vehicles
We’re Here to Help
Are you searching for a Charleston truck accident attorney? Contact our personal injury firm if you or a loved one has been the victim of a semi-truck crash in South Carolina. We offer a free consultation and 24-hour answering service. We have five convenient locations, with three South Carolina locations being fully staffed with full-time attorneys and experienced support staff, or we can meet you at your home or hospital, with evening and weekend appointments available. Call John Price Law Firm, LLC at (843) 552-6011.
Additional Resources:
https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/DataQuality/CrashCollectionTraining/lesson3/tractors.html
https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/large-trucks
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-truck-and-bus-crash-facts-2018