Articles Posted in Single-truck Accidents

Anytime a person is killed as a result of a traffic accident there is always a lingering question of whether things could have truned out differently depending on the circumstances. Many fatal car, truck and motorcycle wrecks seem so senseless when the families of the victims look back on the incident. Although the reasons are not always clear, certain things may be obvious, such as speed too fast for weather conditions, poorly maintained tires or impropoerly designed safety equipment and driver fatigue.

How important is it to get to one’s destination fast if the alternative is not getting there at all? Sad but true, a certain percentage of these deadly collisions could probably have been avoided if something had not occurred or a certain fateful choice had never been made.

As a Maryland personal injury attorney, we often hear victims’ families ask these kind of after-the-fact questions with little hope of knowing for certain if their loved one could have avoided the tragedy altogether. One known cause of commercial truck accidents is driver fatigue, whcih has been a constant source of concern for police and regulatory agencies for decades. This is why there exists federal regulations limiting hours of service. In fact, 49 CFR Part 395 puts limits on when and how long commercial trucker may operate their vehicles.

Single-truck accidents are not uncommon, however the causes can be very similar to multi-vehicle trucking accidents involving passenger cars and semi tractor-trailers. The force of such truck crashes can easily result in death of the passenger vehicle’s occupants, not to mention the truck driver himself. Whichever is the case, defective truck equipment should always be considered.

A sad fact of highway tractor-trailer and commercial truck wrecks is that lack of safety inspections can sometimes be to blame for a crash. These massive motor vehicles have a large number of moving parts and inter-related components that all need to work properly in order to keep the vehicle operating safely. Passenger car, SUV and minivan drivers, as well as motorcycle riders have died as a result of poorly maintained semi tractor-trailers.

As Maryland trucking accident attorneys, our staff has handled numerous personal injury cases in which one or more critical components have failed on an over-the-road truck, resulting in a serious injury or fatal traffic crash. State law requires truck drivers to individually inspect their vehicle assure that all major components, including safety equipment, are functioning correctly. But while the law requires this, many drivers will perform only perfunctory inspections, noting only nominal inspection times in their vehicle logs.