Who is to blame for deadly truck accidents?
Large trucks on the highway are a common sight with all the interstates running through Kentucky. While most interactions with truckers are uneventful, it only takes one mistake to make an incident unforgettable.
Over 10,000 trucks were part of a wreck in 2018, according to the most recent report from the Kentucky Transportation Center. Around 10% of those were involved in a fatality. When your loved one is no longer with you because of a truck accident, it may be important to look at the cause for a way to move forward.
Finding fault
While those in cars are more likely to perish than the truck driver, it can be difficult to know who was at-fault for a specific problem. Though many want to pin the blame on the driver, there are other entities in play.
Equipment failure
Trucks with defective parts double their chance of being in an accident. While there are federal regulations for checking up on trucks, missing potential problems could point to negligence from a service center, the trucking company or the operator:
- Defective brakes
- Broken lights
- Steering problems
- Tire wear
- Hitch malfunction
Driver fatigue
A driver that is operating beyond their limits can be dangerous. Sleep deprivation can greatly increase the likelihood of a crash, but violations may be hard to pin down. For these reasons, federal regulations require drivers to keep detailed logs outline run-time, rests and periods between work. When a company is pushing too hard, or a driver ignores the rules, serious mistakes are more likely to happen.
Car guards
When a truck and car collide, the smaller vehicle can often end up underneath the high-clearance vehicle. This is known as underride. Around half of all accidents resulted in underride, which increases the chance of a fatality or severe injury. Federal rules require many trucks to guard to prevent this scenario, but it doesn’t apply to all commercial haulers.
Knowing what the requirements are is a complicated first step, but understanding who is responsible for measures not being met can be even more difficult. If you’ve lost a loved one because of a commercial truck accident, contact the team at Satterley & Kelley PLLC to discuss options for handling your family’s loss.