Reducing Truck Accidents in the Tri-State Area
There are many different causes of truck accidents. An overworked driver may be in violation of federal rest period requirements and cause an accident due to exhaustion. An inexperienced truck driver may be unprepared to handle traffic conditions. Nighttime driving or weather conditions may reduce visibility, making it difficult for a truck driver to see obstructions in the roadway ahead.
In all of these circumstances, new crash avoidance technologies can be used to warn the truck driver of problems before they result in an accident.
Why Crash Avoidance Technology is So Important for Truck Drivers
New crash avoidance technologies have been appearing in more and more new-model vehicles. While lane drift warnings and steering assistance, backup cameras, cross-traffic warning, and other features are helpful in passenger vehicles, they are especially important in commercial vehicles. This is because large, heavy vehicles cause more damage in a collision than smaller passenger vehicles. In addition, trucks have larger blind spots, and present other challenges with which passenger vehicle drivers do not have to contend.
The damage a single truck accident can cause was powerfully illustrated recently in Goodland, Kansas. Trucking Info reports that the collision between a tractor-trailer and SUV caused the deaths of six people and injuries to five more. There were many factors that contributed to the devastating accident. The SUV was overloaded, carrying eleven passengers in a vehicle built for seven. The overloading in addition to mechanical issues resulted in the SUV traveling at only 40 miles per hour on a highway.
The truck driver was unprepared to maneuver around the slow vehicle, and fatigue was identified as a cause of the truck driver’s inability to safely respond to the situation. Ultimately, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that crash avoidance technologies in the truck could have helped the driver avoid the devastating collision.
Fatal truck accidents are also a major public safety hazard here in the tri-state area. According to WHSV, a truck driver caused an accident in Princeton, West Virginia that killed a family of four. The truck driver crossed a highway median and struck the family’s vehicle before rolling onto its side and catching fire. The truck driver suffered several broken bones. The parents and two children in the other vehicle were all killed in the accident.
The truck driver now faces four counts of negligent homicide, in addition to reckless driving charges and a slew of other traffic violations. In Ohio, two trucks became involved in a fatal crash. WFMJ reports that one rear-ended the other on Interstate 76 west of Youngstown. A passenger in one of the trucks was killed while another victim was flown to a local hospital.
A truck accident can cause devastating injuries to victims. Our tri-state truck accident attorneys have helped victims across West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania access the compensation to which the law entitles them. This includes medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, pain and suffering, property damage, and other losses caused by a negligent truck driver. It is important to both protect a victim’s right to compensation and to hold negligent truck drivers accountable for the devastating losses they cause.