The big challenge which truck accident attorneys have is to prove who exactly is to blame for an injury which has been sustained by their client, following a truck accident. Somewhat surprisingly the stats show that around 80% of all accidents involving a truck are in fact the fault of the car driver. This however still leaves some 20% of cases which are caused by the other side, but who exactly is responsible for the accident. The difficulty for attorneys is to get to the bottom of this, and here is generally where the blame lies.
Truck Driver
Whilst the driver of the truck is not always responsible for the accident, there are many instances in which they are. The most common reasons for accidents when the driver is at fault, are fatigue, driving under the influence and aggressive driving. In fact aggressive driving makes up around 5% of all truck related accidents, and over 100,000 accidents are caused each year because of driver fatigue.
Looking At The Tires
Tire defects are responsible for a whopping 30% of all incidents involving a truck on the road, which is a very worrying statistic. Now when it comes to tire defects there are two potentially liable parties here, the people who are maintaining the vehicle and the manufactures of the tires. In most cases however we find that it is a lack of good and proper maintenance that causes this issue, with tire problems not being resolved as and when they should be.
Cargo Loaders
Many accidents are caused because of the fact that the cargo of the truck has not been correctly loaded. In some instances we see that the truck has been overloaded with weight, we also see trucks with unsecured cargo and there is also a risk which comes with incorrectly spreading the weight out across the trailer. In all of these events it is very difficult for the truck driver to stay in control of the vehicle, owing to the weight challenges which the cargo brings.
Construction Companies
We see a lot of accidents which take place involving trucks which have been caused by road construction teams. When roads are temporary closed or re-routed, they have to consider the large trucks which use the road. In many cases however this doesn’t happen, and that makes it very challenging for the trucks to maneuver. This may be a small percentage of all accidents, but road construction companies do in fact cause a number of issues each and every year.
High Winds
In some cases after an accident there is no obvious party which is culpable, and high winds are a perfect example of that. High winds can knock a truck off course in no time at all, and that is considered as an act of God. In some cases you could accuse the driver or the trucking company of being negligent, especially if the high winds were expected before the journey.
Proving liability is not easy, but these are often the main culprits.
