Any vehicle accident is bad, but when one of those vehicles is a truck, the situation can get much, much worse. Trucks outweigh other vehicles on the road by several tons which means that any vehicle that gets involved in a truck accident will be far worse off. The total destruction of that vehicle is a distinct possibility, as is severe injury, or even death, to the occupants of that vehicle. That is why anyone involved in a truck accident needs to receive a lot of compensation to take care of all their accident-related expenses; that means medical bills, repair costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.

Unfortunately, you might have trouble getting the compensation that you need because the truck driver involved in the accident will have a trucking company with a team of lawyers behind them. They will try to reduce or dismiss your claim so that you do not get what you need to cover your expenses. That is where Law Firm of Ralph B. Wegis comes in. 

They will take the negligent truck driver and the trucking company to task and fight to get you the compensation that you need. Ralph Wegis is a California truck accident lawyer with over forty years of experience. So, he is not afraid to take on trucking companies and hold them accountable. He is who you need on your side because no one else is better equipped to take the fight to the trucking companies.

The Different Types of Truck Accidents

Any type of truck accident is capable of causing a lot of destruction to other motor vehicles and their occupants. The size and weight of the truck are the main factors of course, and those same factors mean that accidents involving trucks take a much longer time to clean up. That means they can also have the effect of inconveniencing people who were not involved in the accident at all. The following are some of the more common types of truck accidents; if you have experienced any of them, then be sure to contact the Law Firm of Ralph B. Wegis.

Rollover Accidents

A rollover accident is self-explanatory as it is when a vehicle gets overturned. Trucks are more prone to rollover accidents than regular vehicles because of the way that the weight is distributed. A truck rollover accident can be caused by speeding, and improperly or excessively loaded trailer, slick road conditions, a distracted driver, and more. Sometimes the truck is the only vehicle involved in a rollover accident, but many times other smaller vehicles can get hit by the truck during the rollover incident.

Jackknife Accidents

These are related to rollover accidents because they can sometimes result in a rollover. Jackknife accidents happen when the truck skids while making a turn, which causes the trailer to fold into the truck, like a partially open jackknife. When the truck skids it can potentially take out many smaller vehicles in its path, leaving injury and destruction in its wake.

Rear-End Collisions

Rear-end collisions are when a vehicle runs into the rear end of the vehicle ahead of them. This is almost always due to the following driver being distracted and not paying enough attention to the road and the vehicle ahead of them. As you can imagine, rear-end collisions are far more devastating when the vehicle is a truck. The size and weight of a truck mean that it could practically obliterate the vehicle in front of it, leaving the occupants with serious injuries.

Under Ride Accidents

These are similar to rear-end collisions, except in this case it is a smaller vehicle that collides with the truck and its trailer. Since it is another form of a rear-end collision there are many cases where the driver who collided with the truck is at fault. However, in some cases, the truck driver brakes suddenly, giving the following driver little time to react. When that happens, it is possible for the smaller vehicle to get wedged underneath the trailer. This can put the driver and passengers of that vehicle at extreme risk of injury or death. In fact, underride accidents are some of the deadliest kinds of truck accidents.

The Causes of Truck Accidents

In most cases, the causes of truck accidents are the same as the causes of regular car accidents: negligence. The negligence exhibited by truck drivers is often the same as that exhibited by other drivers, but sometimes it can be a little different.

Driving While Fatigued 

This is the most common cause of truck accidents because drivers often work very long hours. The rules of the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) limit a truck driver’s time on the road to eleven consecutive hours. Even if a driver follows that rule, they still run the risk of getting tired and nodding off. It gets even worse when drivers violate the rules and drive for hours on end. 

That is because a tired driver is just as dangerous as a drunk driver, the reason being that their judgment and reaction time is seriously impaired. When that happens the chances of an accident occurring are greatly increased.

Distracted Driving

These days, one of the biggest problems is people fiddling around with their phones while they are driving. It is now one of the main causes of car accidents across America. Unfortunately, truck drivers are not exempt from this bad habit. Needless to say, the consequences of distracted driving are far worse in a big rig than they are in a regular vehicle. Accidents will be much more destructive, more vehicles could be involved, and injuries are likely to be much worse. Distracted driving is always bad, but it is much worse when a truck driver is doing it.

Reckless Driving

Truck drivers will also engage in dangerous driving habits like speeding or tailgating. Both of these are far more hazardous in a truck because their large size means that they are not as nimble as smaller vehicles. So, if a speeding truck needs to brake suddenly or make an evasive maneuver, then it will be far more likely to cause a serious accident than avoid one. It goes without saying that a speeding object that weighs several tons is capable of causing a wide swath of destruction.

Driving While Intoxicated

Driving while intoxicated is bad because it diminishes a person’s judgment and reaction times. That means they will make bad decisions or they may not be able to react in time to conditions on the road. That is particularly bad in the case of truck drivers because they need to be alert all the time. Alcoholic beverages are not the only means by which some irresponsible truck drivers will become intoxicated because some of them use illegal drugs in order to stay awake for long periods of time. 

Those drugs are usually stimulants like amphetamines and methamphetamines. When a person uses those kinds of drugs, they will often become jumpy and agitated, which means that they will not always make the best decisions. And when that person is behind the wheel of a big rig, a single bad decision can cause harm to lots of other people.

Truck Accident Statistics

In 2019 large trucks accounted for nearly 5000 of all fatal crashes on the road according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); that is roughly 10% of all total accidents. That might not seem like a high number but you have to also consider the fact that in fatal truck accidents 67% of those fatalities are to the occupants of the vehicle the truck crashed into. That statistic is a grim illustrator of just how much of a disadvantage regular vehicle are at when they collide with a truck. 

That is why anyone who has been in a truck accident, or anyone who has lost someone to a truck accident that is due to the negligence of the truck driver needs to contact Ralph B. Wegis as soon as possible. He will hold the driver and trucking company accountable and he will give you the best chance of getting the compensation that you need.

Contact Law Firm of Ralph B. Wegis If You Have Been in a Truck Accident

Truck accidents are different from regular car accidents for many reasons. One of them is that truckers have a different set of rules than regular drivers do and it is unlikely that a regular civilian will know the ins and outs of those rules. However, an experienced truck accident lawyer will, and they will be able to use that knowledge to find out if the truck driver or trucking company violated any of those rules. If they did, then the truck accident attorney can use that as ammunition in your settlement claim.

The trucking company is another way in which a truck accident is different from a regular car accident because a normal driver will not have a huge company with an army of lawyers behind them. A truck driver will have that support, which is why you need your own. As you can see, an experienced truck accident attorney is vital when someone gets into a truck accident and you are unlikely to find one more experienced than Ralph Wegis.

Ralph Wegis is a truck accident lawyer with over forty years of experience. That means the rules and regulations governing truck drivers are second nature to him, so he can identify which ones the truck driver or trucking company violated. Ralph Wegis is your best hope of getting the compensation you need to take care of any accident-related expenses like medical bills, repair bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. That is because Ralph has been taking on trucking companies for over four decades now, and he will keep taking them on for all of his clients.

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