If you’ve been involved in a crash with a tractor-trailer, you probably want to know why the truck went out of control or hit your vehicle. You were doing your best to obey the rules of the road, so why wasn’t the driver of that vehicle? While you can file a claim and get compensated for the accident, that doesn’t always answer your questions. Here are some common reasons truck drivers crash their vehicles.
There are a number of mistakes these drivers make that put others at risk. For instance, most trucks take the highway, but taking a detour can put others at risk since the driver doesn’t know the road and could make mistakes that put you in harm’s way. Drivers who are rerouted may also speed to make up lost time, and that speeding is risky when the truck weighs thousands of pounds more than passenger vehicles. An impact can literally crush smaller cares.
Nonstop driving is another mistake some truck drivers make. They need to take breaks, but many will blow through those breaks in order to save time. Trucking companies need to make stops mandatory to help prevent this from happening, because too much time behind the wheel can lead to exhaustion, drowsy driving or falling asleep behind the wheel.
Overloading is another major concern. If a truck is designed to carry 1,000 pounds, for instance, then adding 2,000 pounds to it is too much. That extra weight could snap cables or put too much pressure on the truck’s brakes, causing it to slow ineffectively or collide in a rear-end collision.
These are just some of the reasons truck drivers crash; the specifics of your case should determine the cause of the accident you were in.
Source: Motioncar, “Suddenly lost control of your truck Six common mistakes of truck drivers,” Tessa R. Salazar, accessed July 07, 2016