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A commercial truck’s basic features provide the answer to that question. Each of them is heavy, tall, and relies on wheels that have a longer stopping distance.
Truck’s typical weight
When fully loaded, a commercial truck has a weight in the range of 10,000 lbs to 80,000 lbs. Those contrasts sharply with the weight of an average automobile, 4,000 lbs. The truck’s weight increases the length of that large vehicle’s stopping distance. While most automobiles can stop within a length of 300 ft. a truck must travel at least 600 ft, before it can stop.
A good shipping company would strive to create a balanced load in the truck’s trailer. Still, the trailer’s height tends to make the truck top-heavy. Thus, a truck could come down hard on any automobile that it hit from the rear.
Other features that cause trucks to create an unsafe situation on road or highway
Most tractor-trailers and commercial trucks lack any form of rear view mirror. In other words, the driver must rely on the presence of a side view mirror. Yet that does not provide the driver with a chance to see all the approaching vehicles.
In fact, the driver must deal with the fact that he/she has a blind spot. A few of the newer trucks do have a camera that lets the driver see what is at the truck’s rear. However, no motorist should assume that the person sitting in the cab enjoys access to such a camera.
If not fatal, a trucking accident often causes a catastrophic injury, such as:
• Loss of a limb
• Damage to the spinal cord
• Burns over a large portion of the body
• A trauma wound on the head
The dollar value for such an injury is great. Consequently, in a state with a no-fault insurance system, someone that had been hit by a truck would have a right to sue the responsible party. Yet it is not always easy to identify the person or business that was responsible for a given trucking accident.
Sometimes the driver’s negligence causes a truck to collide with a smaller vehicle.
Some drivers are very fatigued, because their employers do not create a schedule that sets aside a sufficient amount of free time for the men and women in the driver’s seat.
Some drivers get distracted, typically by a message on a hand-held device. Personal injury lawyer in Barrie knows that some drivers fail to complete the inspection of their assigned vehicle. That failure can force motorists to deal with a big-rig that does not respond to the driver’s instructions.
If that situation were to cause an accident, the victim would sue one of the responsible parties, and that party would seek compensation from the other responsible parties.