While there are many safety regulations for commercial trucking, fatal accidents and other accidents still happen with alarming frequency and that is why talking to a truck accident death lawyer Decatur, GA is often a good step. These crashes involving tractor-trailers and other heavy trucks easily cause thousands of fatalities and hundreds of thousands of serious injuries each year.
There are many factors that can cause truck wrecks. Just like with passenger cars, many of these accidents are easily preventable. If you have had a loved one pass from a truck accident, reach out to law offices at Krause Law Firm to help you file a claim for compensation.
Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents
Many truck accidents are preventable, and here are some of the most common causes of truck accidents.
Driver Error
Driver error is when there is carelessness or mistakes on the part of the vehicle operator that causes an accident. Fatigue is alarmingly common among truckers, which can cause miscalculations of speed, misjudgments, and failure to maintain control of a massive vehicle. Just like with passenger vehicle drivers, truck drivers can also suffer from distractions when driving. When a truck driver is distracted, the consequences can be even more dire than those who drive a passenger vehicle. Something else that contributes to driver error is speeding or driving aggressively to meet unrealistic deadlines that are set by the trucking companies.
Poor Vehicle Maintenance
Just like you would maintain your car, truck drivers also need to maintain their trucks. Failing to maintain these big rigs can often have catastrophic consequences. Drivers must maintain breaks, trailer ties, and other simple areas that can risk causing a fatal accident. This is why it is imperative that drivers perform their pre trip check and companies employ competent maintenance personnel.
Unbalanced Load
Truckers often have something called no touch free. This means dockworkers are responsible for property loading and emptying the trailer. It is still the responsibility of the driver to check to make sure their load is balanced and properly secured before closing the doors. Unbalanced loads are tough to control on windy days or even when simply transitioning between lanes.
Failures in Equipment
Third parties such as part manufacturers could be liable for truck accidents using technology that causes a driver to lose control of their rig. For example, this could be the brakes. Truckers are rough on their breaks, meaning they demand more maintenance than your typical passenger vehicle. When the brakes don’t work, are faulty, or have not been installed properly, then tragedy could easily occur.
With massive trucks it is easy to see why they often rack up the biggest fatalities when it comes to accidents. There are many factors that go into keeping the roads safe when the driver is behind the wheel of a big truck. If you or a loved one have been involved in a truck accident that ended with a fatality, don’t hesitate to reach out to a truck accident death lawyer in Decatur, GA from the dedicated team at Krause Law Firm.