San Diego Personal Injury Attorney

Truck accidents can cause very severe injuries

An accident involving a big rig truck is also more likely to cause severe injuries or death. Truck accidents can be rare but when a truck collides with a car, a pedestrian, bicycle or motorcycle, the results are often catastrophic.

According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, a division of NHTSA, in 2001, 7,857,674 heavy trucks were registered in the United States, accounting for only 4% of all registered vehicles and in 2002, 434,000 large trucks were involved in traffic accidents and 4542 of these truck accidents resulted in fatalities. [1]

In 2002 according to Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) arm of the NHTSA, there were 38,491 fatal car accidents. This means that while trucks only accounted for 4% of vehicles on the road according to the 2001 statistics, they were responsible for about 11.8% of car accident fatalities in 2002. These proportions and numbers change year to year, but the fact is trucks do pose a greater risk of serious injury and death when involved in a car accident on our roads.

Motor vehicle accidents involving big rig trucks frequently involve a truck making a right turn into another vehicle. It is also more difficult to stop a truck because it takes extra time and space which can lead to rear end collisions which may be fatal for a motorcycle rider. What is known as the "Squeeze play" is also a dangerous big rig truck accident scenario. Large semi trucks often need to pull left or right in order to navigate turns. Sometimes an unsuspecting car driver or motorcyclist, or even a bicycle rider or pedestrian, will be squeezed between a truck and another object or vehicle. The car or motorcycle may be in a blind spot that exists just because a semi truck is so large. The truck can also force a car or a motorcycle rider or bicycle rider off the road. Pedestrians, even on the sidewalk or entering a crosswalk or in the middle of a crosswalk, can also be in danger when a truck is turning.

The primary problem which makes the risk particularly great for pedestrians and bicyclists is that the semi trucks are large, and the truck drivers may not be accustomed to encountering pedestrians and bicyclists on the roadways In addition, the height of the semi truck causes blind spots so that pedestrians and bicyclists may be completely hidden to the truck driver. To complicate matters, many pedestrians and bicyclists are unfamiliar with the blind spots that a big truck may have and they do not walk or ride defensively to make sure they are seen.

When a large truck turns right into an intersection, pedestrians and bicyclists must be aware and alert because the risk and danger of serious injury or even death is very great for the pedestrian and the bicyclist.

San Diego Truck Accident Attorney Dean A. Goetz

If you've been involved in a truck accident in California, contact San Diego personal injury attorney Dean Goetz as soon as possible. Trucking companies are known for their aggressive legal defense teams and will often have sent a legal team immediately to the scene of an accident. You will need accident reconstruction experts to prove your case and accident investigators will work in conjunction with your personal injury attorney to investigate and prove your case.

RESOURCES CITED

1. National Research Data, NHTSA Truck Accident Fact Sheet
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv19/05-0140-W.pdf

2. ENDANGERMENT OF PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS AT INTERSECTIONS BY RIGHT TURNING TRUCKS
Walter Niewoehner (DEKRA) F. Alexander Berg (DEKRA) DEKRA Automobil GmbH Paper Number 05-0344

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• About San Diego truck accident attorney.
• Truck driver negligence.
• Trucking company negligence.
• Violations of trucking laws.
• Truck maintenance issues.