The presence of large trucks on the roadways presents an increased risk of accidents. Due to the size and heavy weight of these vehicles, crashes often result in severe injuries, and most of them occur to other vehicle occupants.
There are certain factors that contribute to accidents involving large trucks. Some are truck or driver related, while others are due to other drivers on the road.
Loss of control
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration discusses that losing control is one of the critical events that result in crashes. Common factors involved with this include:
- Speeding
- Poor weather conditions
- Vehicle failure
- Cargo shift
Running out of the lane
Driving off the road or into another lane is also a critical event. This may be due to poor road conditions, vehicle failure or driver error.
Brake failure is a common reason that truck drivers get into crashes. Heavy traffic, unfamiliarity with the route, medication use, fatigue and traveling too fast are also common factors.
Other drivers
Another critical event that occurs is that trucks collide with other vehicles. According to FindLaw, this is often the fault of other drivers. The operators of passenger vehicles do not understand that driving around trucks takes different skills. Some common issues include changing lanes right in front of large vehicles, driving in blind spots, driving between two large trucks, passing unsafely and merging improperly.
Other drivers should understand that it takes trucks longer to accelerate and stop, and they also need more room to turn. In general, giving large trucks extra space and room can reduce the number of crashes.