From driver fatigue to poorly maintained vehicles to hazardous roadway conditions Alabama truck accidents can happen for many reasons. Oftentimes, preventable factors can cause a truck accident. Because commercial trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds when operating at the federal weight limit, any collisions involving these vehicles can be especially dangerous.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a commercial truck accident, schedule a free case evaluation with an Alabama truck accident attorney at Mezrano® Injury Lawyers. Our legal team can review your case details, determine whether your claim is valid, and investigate who was at fault.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents?
One of the most common causes of a truck crash is driver negligence. This can take different forms, such as driving distracted, fatigued, or impaired. Similarly, reckless actions like speeding, following too closely, and improper lane changes can lead to serious crashes.
Failing to adjust one’s driving for weather or road conditions can also increase the risk of a rollover or multi-vehicle collision. Truckers who receive inadequate training may be ill-equipped to handle such a large, commercial vehicle, raising the likelihood of a dangerous maneuver.
Other factors outside of a trucker’s control can also contribute to a crash. For instance, improperly loaded or secured cargo, poor truck maintenance, and defective equipment like faulty brakes can cause complications on the road that inadvertently lead to a wreck.
Driver-Related Causes of Truck Accidents
Truck drivers must operate large commercial vehicles safely, but fatigue, distractions, unsafe driving habits, and other factors can increase the risk of crashes.
Driver Fatigue and Hours-of-Service Violations
Long hours on the road can leave truck drivers drowsy and slow to react. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) hours-of-service rules limit how long commercial drivers can drive without required rest.
Distracted Driving
Looking at a phone, eating, adjusting the GPS, or taking attention away from the road can delay a driver’s response to traffic and hazards.
Speeding
Traveling too fast makes it harder for a truck to stop or respond to sudden changes in traffic. The size and weight of commercial trucks can make the consequences of speeding more severe.
Following Too Closely
Trucks need more distance to stop than passenger vehicles. Driving too close to another vehicle can leave a truck driver with too little time to react when traffic slows or stops.
Improper Lane Changes
Commercial trucks have large blind spots, so drivers must check surrounding traffic before changing lanes. Failing to do so can result in a collision with a nearby vehicle.
Driving Under the Influence
Alcohol, illegal drugs, and some medications can impair judgment, coordination, and reaction time, making it unsafe to operate a commercial vehicle.
Inadequate Training or Experience
Operating a commercial truck requires specialized skills. Drivers with insufficient training or experience may struggle with braking, turning, backing, lane changes, or other situations unique to large vehicles.
Aggressive Driving
Tailgating, unsafe passing, sudden lane changes, and other aggressive behaviors can create dangerous conditions for everyone sharing the road.
Failing To Adjust for Weather
Rain, fog, strong winds, and other weather conditions can affect visibility, traction, and stopping distance. Truck drivers may need to reduce speed and increase following distances when conditions deteriorate.
Medical Conditions That Affect Driving Ability
Certain medical conditions can interfere with a driver’s alertness, vision, coordination, or ability to operate a commercial vehicle safely. Federal regulations address medical qualifications for commercial drivers to help identify conditions that may affect safe driving.
Trucking Company Safety Failures That Can Cause Truck Accidents
A trucking company’s decisions about hiring, training, scheduling, supervision, and vehicle maintenance can directly affect roadway safety. Company practices can contribute to truck crashes when a company hires inexperienced or unqualified drivers, provides inadequate driving training, or fails to supervise drivers properly.
Scheduling practices can also create safety concerns. Pressure to meet unrealistic delivery schedules can encourage drivers to work while fatigued or drive longer than allowed. Companies that encourage or allow hours-of-service violations can increase the risk of drowsy-driving crashes.
Other company practices can create additional risks. For example, failing to conduct required drug and alcohol testing, ignoring known safety problems or repeated complaints, and failing to maintain trucks properly can result in unsafe conditions for those on the road. Regular maintenance is especially important for components such as brakes, tires, steering systems, and other equipment needed for safe operation
Vehicle and Equipment Problems That Can Cause Truck Accidents
Mechanical failures and equipment problems create serious hazards that can lead to catastrophic crashes involving commercial trucks. The sheer size and weight of semi-trucks mean that even minor mechanical issues can have deadly consequences.
Poor Maintenance
Poor maintenance can lead to mechanical issues and an inevitable accident. For example, defective brakes can hinder stopping. Tire blowouts can cause a loss of control. Steering or suspension problems can also cause a driver to lose control. Lighting failures can reduce visibility. All of these examples could lead to a deadly crash.
Defective Truck Parts or Equipment
A defective component can fail unexpectedly and cause a crash. Manufacturers sometimes produce trucks or parts with design flaws or manufacturing defects. A design flaw or defect can pose dangers even if the truck is properly maintained. Defective brakes, steering, tires, hitches, or other parts can fail suddenly, and lead to a devastating crash.
Improper Cargo Loading
Improperly loaded or cargo that isn’t secured correctly can shift during transit, making a truck unstable and affecting its braking and handling. Unsecured cargo could also fall from the trailer, create hazards for other drivers, or contribute to rollovers. If a driver is carrying hazardous materials and those spill, this can also create environmental hazards. Federal regulations set requirements for securing different types of cargo to help prevent these dangers.
Weather and Road Conditions That Can Cause Truck Accidents
Environmental conditions pose serious risks for large commercial trucks and demand extra caution from both drivers and trucking companies. Rain, fog, ice, or high winds may be manageable for a passenger vehicle, but they can greatly increase stopping distances and reduce visibility for trucks.
Poor road conditions, such as potholes, uneven pavement, construction zones, and missing signage, further increase the danger. These hazards can cause drivers to lose control, make sudden evasive maneuvers, or trigger jackknife and rollover accidents.
Weather and road conditions do not always cause truck accidents, but the risk rises if drivers do not adjust their speed, following distance, or driving habits to match the conditions.
Large Truck Blind Spots
Commercial trucks have large blind spots around the vehicle that limit the driver’s visibility. Blind spots are often directly beside the cab, behind the trailer, and immediately in front of the truck. These blind spots require truckers to be extremely careful when maneuvering and changing lanes.
Vehicles that drive alongside a truck for extended periods may be hidden from the trucker’s view, especially if they are in a blind spot. Truck accidents involving limited visibility often result in sideswipes, merging crashes, and rear-end collisions.
Wide Turns and Turning Errors
Because of their length, commercial trucks often need significantly more space to turn. Truckers must be trained to handle wide right turns, trailer swings, and to cross multiple lanes of traffic safely. Failing to check the surrounding traffic before turning can quickly lead to a collision. Similarly, other drivers who attempt to pass a turning truck can increase the risk of a crash.
Jackknife and Rollover Crashes
Jackknife crashes occur when a truck’s trailer swings sharply toward the cab, often because of sudden braking, loss of traction, excessive speed, improper braking, poor road conditions, or trailer instability.
Additionally, rollovers happen when a truck loses stability, particularly while traveling too fast through curves, and rolls onto its side. Contributing factors can include improperly distributed cargo, sudden steering movements, high winds, and shifting loads.
Insufficient Following Distance and Long Stopping Distances
Because commercial trucks are larger and haul heavy loads, they require a longer stopping distance than a passenger vehicle. Speed, weight, and road conditions also affect stopping distance, which truckers must consider when operating their vehicle.
Following too closely behind another vehicle can leave a truck driver with too little time or space to avoid a collision. As a result, they may rear-end a smaller car, causing catastrophic damage and injuries to the driver and any passengers.
Inadequate Truck Driver Training
Commercial truck drivers need specialized training to safely handle large vehicles in different situations. Training should cover:
- Vehicle handling
- Braking
- Turns
- Backing up
- Load awareness
- Hazard recognition
- Operating in different weather conditions
- Sharing the road with passenger vehicles
Inadequate training or experience can leave drivers unprepared to respond to hazards, control the truck, or make safe decisions, increasing the risk of an accident.
Injured in a Truck Accident? Mezrano Injury Lawyers Can Help
If you or a loved one was injured in a truck accident in Alabama, understanding what caused the crash can be an important first step. Our Alabama truck accident attorneys can review the circumstances of your collision and explain your legal options.
We have secured favorable case results for hundreds of clients. Contact us today for a free case evaluation at one of our many Alabama office locations.
