Truck accidents can cause serious injuries to victims who may need help with the damages they suffer during a car accident. Legal recourse against a negligent truck driver or trucking company may be available which is why truck accident victims should be familiar with the common causes of truck accidents and the legal protections available to them.
Causes of truck accidents
There are several common causes of truck accidents including:
- Truck driver non-performance: the truck driver fell asleep or they were physically impaired for another reason, causing a truck accident.
- Truck driver lack of recognition: the truck driver was inattentive, failed to adequately observe the situation or was distracted by something inside or outside of the vehicle which caused them to fail to recognize and respond to the danger, causing a truck accident.
- Truck driver poor decision-making: the truck driver engaged in poor decision-making such as driving too fast for the roadway or weather conditions; misjudged the speed of other vehicles; or followed other vehicles too closely.
- Truck driver performance: the truck driver performed poorly because they panicked, overcompensated or exercised poor directional control.
Common causes of truck accidents can also include driver error; drunk or distracted driving; failure to take adequate rest breaks and falsify logs; and overweight or overloading violations. Trucking companies may also be negligent for failing to adequately maintain the truck or truck equipment. Truck driver negligence can result in truck accidents and a personal injury claim for damages against a negligent truck driver or trucking company may be able to help victims with their damages.
