4 Reasons Why Truck Accidents Are More Likely to be Fatal

Commercial truck drivers face many risks and concerns when doing their everyday job. Getting goods from a warehouse to a retail store or from one warehouse depot to another is hard work. It’s an important part of the supply chain that relies on the goods arriving on time. People are depending on it and the truck drivers know that (and are probably reminded about it as well).

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When truck accidents occur, they have a higher likelihood of proving fatal. In this article, we explore 4 of the reasons why it’s unfortunately true.

1.      Exceeding the Speed Limit

When exceeding the safe speed limit for trucks, you’ve got a large movable object traveling at an alarming speed. If suddenly out of control and careening into the side of another vehicle, pedestrians, or power pole, a bad outcome is almost assured.

All it takes is doing a few unwise things to create worse scenarios. Any lawyer that deals with truck accidents that are fatal knows that and likely sees the result of it all the time. Speed kills. There’s no other way to put it more clearly.

2.      Stopping Time is Greater

The stopping time is greater with a truck compared to a much smaller vehicle. With the adage that a body in motion tends to stay in motion, the same is true to an extent with a truck.

It requires considerable engine power and force to build a truck up to a high speed. Similarly, once this is achieved, it requires considerable braking power and time to come to a complete stop. For novice truck drivers and ones who just don’t account for this reality, bad results happen.

3.      Big Trucks Are Hard to Avoid

When a big truck is out of control and coming straight for a pedestrian, there are only so many places to hide. Given that trucks are usually quite long, dodging them isn’t easy because people can only run so fast, and a truck is likely moving faster than they are.

Similarly, people in vehicles often cannot maneuver their vehicle out the way of an oncoming truck in time. So, it’s not just a pedestrian issue either.

4.      Impact Damage is Greater

The combination of a large mass (including what the truck is transporting), the total tonnage of the truck, and the speed of the impact, is crushing in all departments.

The driver will take the brunt of any impact inside the cab. However, anyone or anything nearby is in the line of fire too. An overturned truck can land on another vehicle, fall over a bridge or overpass onto something below, or have a frontal impact. Each of these scenarios may lead to fatalities.

Commercial driving is a serious responsibility. Truck drivers need to be schooled in the added dangers to life when driving a truck. Also, laying out the common causes of truck accidents and how they lead to a greater percentage of fatalities should be necessary information for new drivers to take on board.