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FAQ's for Truck Accidents
I was injured, and my car was totaled. What shiuld I know about trucker's incurance companies
Most truckers usually have commercial insurance policies. The good news is that these policies have higher limits, typically paying you more for your injuries and damages. However, most insurance companies will try to take advantage of you and offer you less compensation if an attorney does not represent you.
If you have pain and suffering, medical bills, or lost wages due to this accident, contact our experienced Colorado Springs and Denver truck accident attorneys for a free legal evaluation to ensure you are getting the fair compensation you deserve.
If I suddenly have to slam on the brakes, will this monster truck behind me flatten me?
With a maximum gross weight of 80,000 pounds and an overall length of seventy-five feet, a tractor-trailer cruising at 65 mph right behind your small car on a Colorado highway is likely to make you glance apprehensively at the large radiator grille in your rear-view mirror. Even the above maximum limits can be exceeded on certain highways, and there are exemptions for LCVs (longer combination vehicles). Truly monstrous vehicles sharing the road with passenger cars are unavoidable, and we had better adjust to them.
Big trucks not only look dangerous; they are. There are several reasons why trucks, especially very large trucks, can be dangerous:
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Trucking companies put delivery deadlines and cost control before safety
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Poorly maintained or worn-out trucks
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Poorly stowed cargo, shifting or falling during transport
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Untrained or reckless drivers
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Sick or exhausted drivers, driving under the influence or distracted
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Large blind spots and truck maneuvering space
With new tires and perfectly maintained brakes, a big truck moving at 60 mph will need 361 feet to come to a stop, while a passenger car needs only 302 feet. But malfunctioning brakes or worn tires will increase by a factor of two or more the distance required to stop the massive vehicle. Another important observation should be made in this respect: a large share of Colorado accidents involving big trucks are caused by passenger vehicles being too close in front of the truck. Whether the truck is tailing the car or the car cuts right in front of the truck cannot be deducted from accident statistics, but the conclusion should be clear: keep your distance!
Don’t seek legal support from a lawyer who doesn’t have real, proven truck accident experience. Truck accidents are likely to have tragic consequences. If you or someone you care for has been involved in an accident with a truck in the Colorado Springs or Denver areas, you need someone you trust to help you through the hardship. In case of severe injuries or wrongful death, strong legal support will be required to obtain total compensation for your pain, suffering, costs, and loss of income. Colorado Springs personal injury attorney Anderson Injury Law Firm is exceptionally well qualified to build your case, having focused on Colorado truck accidents for several decades. The attorneys at Anderson Injury Law Firm know the federal and Colorado trucking regulations and are wise to the transport companies’ failures and deceptions. They are practiced in collecting evidence and witness statements and have insider knowledge of the insurance companies’ tactics. Call us today for a free consultation.
What do we know about large truck crashes?
The Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) is a nationwide and pioneering investigation based on 120,000 truck crashes between 2001 and 2003. Drawing a sample of 963 crashes, LTCCS analyzed each crash’s causes, vehicles, and circumstances in minute detail.
What might car and truck drivers in Colorado learn from the study?
We’ll leave aside what the study calls the “critical events” leading to the crash, i.e., the vehicle action that made the crash unavoidable, like turning or rear-ending. It is more to the point to look at the “critical reasons” of the accident, namely the failures that led to the critical events. The three critical reasons are:
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Driver error
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Vehicle failure
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Environment (weather, road conditions, etc.)
Of the large truck crashes involving a passenger car (car, van, pick-up truck, SUV), 44% were caused (critical reason) by the truck. This means most (56%) of car-truck crashes are caused by passenger vehicles.
The study further shows that, of all accidents, 87% were caused by the driver, 10% by a vehicle failure, and just 3% by the environment.
Associated factors causing a truck crash: LTCCS carefully analyzes the elements leading and contributing to the critical reasons, looking at a wide range of factors that can be associated with the truck involved in the crash. Associated factors could be brake problems or driver fatigue, for instance.
It is crucial to figure out if a factor is associated more frequently with a truck when it causes the accident than when it does not cause the accident. In the list below, the column “relative risk” shows that trucks that have caused the accident are associated with “traveling too fast” 7.7 times more frequently than trucks not having caused the accident, which means that speeding increases the probability of causing an accident close to 8 times. Had the relative risk ratio been equal to 1, speeding would not have been a factor in causing accidents.
The list also mentions the percentage of associated factors assigned to all the studied truck crashes. Only a few significant associated factors are discussed hereafter.
Associated Factors & Percent of Total:
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Brake problems – 29% (Relative Risk: 2.7)
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Traveling too fast – 23% (Relative Risk: 7.7)
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Inadequate surveillance – 14% (Relative Risk: 9.3)
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Fatigue – 13% (Relative Risk: 8.0)
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Pressure from employer – 10% (Relative Risk: 4.7)
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Illegal maneuver – 9% (Relative Risk: 26.4)
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Inattention – 9% (Relative Risk: 17.1)
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Following too close – 5% (Relative Risk: 22.6)
A few of the conclusions that can be drawn from the above figures are:
Brake problems are present in a large share of the trucks involved in crashes (which is not reassuring) but are only moderately likely to be the cause of the accident. On the other hand, tailgating is not frequently associated with truck crashes, but when it is, it is almost always associated with the truck having caused the accident.
Who do I sue for damages after colliding with a large truck?
Truck accidents are often more complex than passenger car accidents. This is because the defending party is not an individual but several commercial, logistics, or industrial companies interested in freight haulage.
To give the example of a semi-trailer, the tractor often belongs to one company while the trailer is the property of another. Depending on who or what caused the accident and the existence of aggravating circumstances, any one of the following parties could be held liable, to a certain extent, for the damages you suffered:
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The tractor owner
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The trailer owner
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The driver’s employer
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A parent company of any of the above
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The driver
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The manufacturer of truck, trailer, or parts
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The cargo owner or logistics company
Even third-party drivers or owners could be involved in the crash and subject to liability. Truck accidents require, in most cases, an immediate and thorough investigation of the parties involved and the causes of the accident, from cargo shifting to driver drowsiness or the violation of federal regulations.
What is a commercial truck, and how would a Colorado car accident be different if it involved a truck?
A commercial truck transports commercial goods. They are known as big rigs, semi-trucks, 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers, dump trucks, freight trucks, or other large trucks. When loaded with goods, they can weigh up to 80,000 pounds; however, an average car only weighs approximately 3,000 pounds.
Because of a truck’s large size and heavy weight, a Colorado car accident involving a semi is more severe than an accident involving another car. The basic laws of physics show that a truck-car crash is more likely to result in severe injuries and death due to the difference in size between the two vehicles.
Is a trucker texting ban justified?
Effective December 1st, 2009, Colorado House Bill 09-1094 bans all juveniles from using a cell phone while driving and all adult drivers from texting, reading, sending e-mails, or using a hand-held electronic device for anything other than making a phone call. Using the phone in violation of the new law is now a primary offense, which means that a police officer can stop a car if he has reason to believe this is the case.
Distracted driving draws the attention of legislators, research and safety organizations, and a wide range of interest groups. A surge of disastrous accidents caused by driver inattention in Colorado and elsewhere has taken alarming proportions, and the widespread use of hand-held electronic devices by car and truck drivers is the main culprit.
If dialing a number on your cell phone is dangerous, texting and reading is the shortest way to disaster.
A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) has shown that for a driver, the key to safely using a phone is keeping the eyes on the road. The study showed that text messaging had the longest eyes-off-road time (4.6 seconds over a 6-second interval). This equates to a driver traveling the length of a football field at 55 mph without looking at the roadway. The risk of crashing while texting is twenty-three times as high as non-distracted driving. (source VTTI)
The conclusion is obvious: just like you wouldn’t drive with your eyes shut, texting or reading behind the wheel needs to be banned.
A distracted truck driver can inflict devastating damage by running a stop light or rear-ending a car. If you or a loved one have been the victim of such an accident in the Colorado Springs, Pueblo, or Denver areas, successfully winning total and just compensation will be an uphill battle. You will have to assess the responsibility of the transport company and the truck driver, collect witness reports, deal with wrongful death or the complex medical issues related to severe injuries, cope with insurance companies’ defensive tactics and sneaky claims adjusters, calculate loss of income and long-term medical or disability expenses, evaluate pain and suffering, and much more. We can help you deal with all of these complicated issues. Call Anderson Injury Law Firm today for your free consultation to learn how.
Will the truck's insurance cover our medical and car repair expenses?
Yes. All commercial vehicle operating companies in Colorado and elsewhere are required to contract public liability insurance covering bodily injury, property damage, or environmental restoration.
The insurance coverage limit varies with the type of activity of the transport company and can range from $500,000 to $5,000,000. Further requirements may be imposed at the state level.
It is also essential to know whether the truck driver was an owner-operator or if a transport company employed him. Critical to your claim for compensation is the truck driver’s and trucking company’s respect for rules and regulations governing the operations of commercial vehicles.
Immediately after the accident, steps must be taken to collect witness reports and verify critical evidence, such as the driver’s qualification and training, truck log book, cargo weight, etc. You should consult an attorney before settling with the insurance company.