Trucks are operated on roads throughout the nation. The prevalence of the motor vehicle means that sometimes they are involved in crashes. When this happens, the resulting injuries can be catastrophic and could even lead to death. Following such an incident it is possible that those who are hurt or the family members of those who lost their loves will file a personal injury lawsuit.
Trucking companies are heavily regulated by the federal government. These regulations address a wide variety of matters including how many hours of sleep a driver must have and how heavy the truck’s load can be. As a result, any lawsuit that might arise following a collision will likely be complicated.
To try to reduce the number of truck accidents that occur on U.S. roads, among other things, regulators have concentrated on manufacturing trucks that include safety standards. These include strong underride guards positioned on the rear of semi-trailers, and stability-control technology.
Thus far these efforts and others appear to be lacking. According to the U.S. Transportation Department’s annual traffic-injury report, for the fourth year in a row, there was an increase in the number of people who died in crashes involving large trucks. The 3,964 people who died in these incidents were in a variety of situations involving the truck including:
- Vehicle occupant.
- Truck driver.
- Pedestrian.
This increase of truck accidents is interesting when one considers that in general, the number of deaths occurring on U.S. highways is decreasing.
Money can be vital to the process of healing—both physically as well as emotionally—following a collision. For assistance in trying to secure funds via a personal injury lawsuit most find a lawyer to be helpful.
Source: Carrier Management, “Large-Truck Crash Deaths Increase for Fourth Year,” Dec. 24, 2014