Being injured in a truck or automobile accident can be stressful. Large truck accidents can be devastating because of the size and weight of commercial trucks, the cargo they carry, and the damage they can cause in a crash. Though they can both involve difficult processes, automobile, and large truck accidents differ for several reasons.
Cargo
As you might expect, the cargo that a large truck carries is different than the contents of a passenger car and can therefore create a different kind of accident with different injuries and/or damages. Large trucks often travel for commercial purposes, potentially carrying hundreds of pounds of materials or products. A fully loaded 18-wheeler can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. The average weight of a normal passenger vehicle is about 4,000 pounds. When the two vehicles collide, it will be much harder on the passenger car than on the truck. Large trucks that are zoned for federal use can carry oversized cargo like raw materials or wind turbine blades, contributing to more devastating accidents with passenger vehicles, whose only “cargo” is occupants or smaller loads. The bigger loads these trucks carry can cause dangerous conditions for nearby motorists and may lead to more severe accidents. The injuries and property damage sustained in these accidents tend to be more serious, which can impact the level of compensation you might expect.Level of Damage
Because large trucks are so much bigger than passenger vehicles, they can cause greater damage. Not only can their cargo pose a significant threat to other vehicles, but large trucks require more room to make turns and slow down, so their operation can be potentially hazardous in certain conditions. Trucks can cause serious accidents, including: - Jackknife accidents
- Head-on collisions
- Rollover accidents
- T-bone collisions
- Turning accidents
- Sideswipe accidents
- Pedestrian collisions
- Broken bones
- Spinal cord damage
- Paralysis
- Severe burns
- Contusions
- Lacerations
- Traumatic brain injury
- Decapitation
- Amputation
- Internal bleeding
- Internal organ damage
- Neck trauma
Liability
Large trucks are often commercially or federally owned. When determining liability, several parties may be at fault, rather than the two or three parties that may be considered liable in an automobile accident. - The driver of the large truck may be considered liable.
- The driver of an automobile may be considered liable.
- If an accident was caused by improperly loaded cargo, the company responsible for loading the cargo may be considered liable.
- If an accident was caused by malfunctioning equipment on a large truck, the company responsible for the maintenance of the equipment may be considered liable.
- If the accident resulted from driver fatigue, the trucking company could be held responsible if they required the driver to work longer than the federally regulated service hours to deliver a load at a particular time.