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A legal truck accident case is a personal injury (tort) lawsuit brought against the party who caused, in whole or part, the truck accident. A truck accident case is filed on behalf of those who suffered damages in a truck accident as a result of another party’s negligent or reckless conduct. A truck accident case can be filed against a liable truck driver, employer, company, contractor, insurance company, or any other party that is responsible for the damages caused in a truck accident.
When a commercial truck accident occurs, the damages can include catastrophic injury or death. At least five thousand people lose their lives every year in a truck accident and another 135,000 are injured. Of those injured in a truck accident case, one-third suffers catastrophic injuries such as traumatic brain injury, loss of a limb, or severe burns. The majority of those who are injured or killed in a truck accident case are car drivers or passengers. Of the five thousand who were killed in a truck accident case in 2002, more than four thousand were in a passenger car at the time of the crash. More than two hundred pedestrians and bicyclists are killed every year in a truck accident case.
The majority of truck accidents occur in rural areas during daylight hours. Most truck accident cases happen on dry roads under “normal” weather conditions, meaning that weather and road conditions were not major precipitating factors. The majority of injuries and fatalities that occur in truck accident cases are the result of rollover accidents. Ten percent of all truck accident cases involve a fuel fed fire. Another ten percent involve a passenger car crossing into traffic and striking a truck head-on.
There are a number of factors that can cause or contribute to a truck accident. In a truck accident case involving a passenger car, driver negligence may be to blame. Some passenger car drivers are unaware of how to safety share the road with large trucks and may misjudge a truck’s visibility, acceleration, and braking capabilities. Abandoning a car on the roadside, unsafe merging, passing, lane changes, driving between trucks, and similar passenger car driver conduct can all lead to a truck accident.
A truck accident can also be caused by the conduct or negligence of a truck driver. The Department of Transportation estimates that thirty to forty percent of all truck accident cases involve truck driver fatigue. Truck driver fatigue is listed as the probable cause of death in thirty percent of all truck accident cases. Because of the high rate of driver fatigue related truck accident cases, the federal government has placed restrictions on the number of hours that a truck driver can work before taking a rest break.
Other causes of truck accident cases may include: truck driver inexperience, improper training, reckless driving, intoxication, and other types of truck driver negligence, oversized loads, unsafe road or weather conditions, mechanical failures, and improper truck maintenance. If any of these factors are involved in a truck accident case, the victims of the accident may be able to seek compensation for their losses from those parties responsible.
To learn more about your rights and options in a truck accident case, you may wish to contact a qualified and experienced legal professional.
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