Truck accidents. They are never ideal, and under the wrong circumstances, they can be more fatal than any regular car accident.
Unfortunately, there are around 5,000 deaths caused by truck accidents every year. Whether these are semi truck accidents or large truck accidents, these do have the potential to become fatal easily.
So, why is a truck accident so dangerous? What are the things that you need to look out for?
This is your guide.
What Is a Semi Truck?
Before we can get into why semi truck accidents are bad, you need to understand exactly what this is. Essentially, a semi truck is a truck that is typically used for larger and long-distance deliveries. The trucks that you see on highways with large trailers on them are all led by semi trucks.
So, as you may be able to tell, these vehicles are bigger than your average car. With that in mind, you need to be aware of the reasons why they can cause more damage.
Sheer Size
As discussed above, semi trucks are much bigger than your average car. The size of these trucks can depend on what kind of trailer they are carrying.
However, try to think of it this way. These trucks can be at least 50 feet in length. The average length of a car is lucky to be 15 feet. What this means is that a truck can be at least 10 times the size of a car.
So, if a vehicle that is 10 times the size of a normal vehicle hits a regular car, you can only imagine the impact that it would cause compared to a normal accident.
This is something that you need to think about if you are driving a semi truck or sharing the road with one. The damage from a regular accident can be much more catastrophic because of the size difference.
Exhaustion
Another reason why semi truck accidents can be more dangerous is that with truck drivers, there is more likely to be a fatigue factor with this. The reason for that is truck drivers typically have long routes with long hours.
This means that they could be driving for 10 hours a day, six days a week across the country. In this situation, it is possible that their body is worn down and that they had not had a decent night’s sleep in days.
If you put all of that together, you could end up having drivers that are barely focused and alert on the road. That can impair their judgment and cause them to make mistakes driving their truck.
So, if a driver is late to react to a sudden stop in traffic or accidentally swerves in another lane because they were drifting off, that can cause problems for everybody on the road.
While regular car drivers could have these things happen to them as well, it is more likely that a truck driver is driving these long miles for work purposes. Plus, they have a vehicle that is more sensitive to this.
Distance to Stop
Another big factor in semi truck accidents is their ability to stop. Because they are such large vehicles compared to the average car, semi trucks need a much larger distance to stop.
This could be up to five times the required distance compared to a normal car. That is why that semi trucks are more vulnerable to certain accidents, such as a car in front of them stopping short.
Let’s use this example. Some cars get frustrated by the speed of a truck, so they decide to use any opportunity that they have to pass the truck.
However, in this situation, the car does not have much room in front of them to make the move. This results in the car cutting off the truck and forcing them to react quickly. If they all have to stop suddenly, then the car just took away the space the truck had to stop, thus resulting in it getting hit from behind.
These are the type of accidents that are difficult to avoid for a truck driver at times. In this situation, you may be inclined to reach out to a truck accident lawyer such as Alpha Accident Lawyers.
Poor Maintenance
Another thing that can cause truck accidents is if there is poor maintenance on the vehicle. Now, the responsibility of this maintenance can either be on the truck driver or the company that they work for.
Sometimes, this line is not always clear. When this happens or one of the sides gets negligent with proper truck maintenance, it can cause problems on the road.
What if someone fails to have their brakes inspected? What if the trailer gets disconnected from the truck? What if there is a big fire caused because of this?
These are the type of things that can cause lethal damage to a truck driver and the other cars around you. If there is negligence here, then someone may face a lawsuit because of it.
Learn More About Semi Truck Accidents
These are some of the biggest reasons why semi truck accidents can occur. One of the biggest things that you have to remember is that because of its size, a truck automatically causes more damage than a car.
Also, you need to make sure that you keep up with regular maintenance, be aware of other cars on the road, and make sure that you get enough rest while making long drives.
For other articles about vehicles on the road, see our Cars section.
