Large trucks are a common sight on the roads and highways that pass through the greater Seattle metropolitan area. Many trucks visit local businesses each day to deliver supplies and goods for consumers to purchase. Most of the trucks that pass through the city are driven by reliable and conscientious individuals. However, an unfortunate number of large trucks cause serious motor vehicle accidents that can threaten lives and jeopardized the futures of those involved.
While the number of truck accident causes is exceptionally large, there are some common preventable factors that lead to many of the accidents that alter lives and injure victims when they are involved in collisions with semis and other large commercial vehicles. This post will discuss some of those preventable causes and options victims may have for recovering their damages. As with all the posts on this legal blog, readers are reminded that no legal advice is provided herein.
Fatigue as a cause of accidents
Like drivers of smaller personal vehicles, truck drivers can succumb to exhaustion when they operate their rigs. In some instances, the schedules that truckers are expected to keep and the delivery timelines they are mandated to follow can force them to drive when they are too tired to safely do so. Truck drivers may attempt to alter their driving logs to show compliance with federal mandates when in fact they have violated those rules to get to their destinations on time. Tired truck drivers are danger to everyone and fatigue driving is a preventable cause of truck accidents.
Poor training as a cause of accidents
Another preventable cause of truck accidents concerns the training that drivers receive before they are put into rigs. Generally, truck drivers must hold special links insist to operate large commercial vehicles. The failure of a driver to procure such a license may result in their lack of understanding of how to safely operate their rig.
Similarly, truck companies that fail to train their drivers on how to safely operate their rigs can hold some liability when their drivers cause dangerous and preventable motor vehicle accidents. Training is a factor in some truck accidents and may be explored by personal injury attorneys and their victims when they suffer losses in collisions with trucks.
Inexperience as a cause of accidents
A final common cause of preventable truck accidents is inexperience. Just as new young drivers are involved in accidents because they do not know how their vehicles will respond, new truck drivers can also cause preventable truck accidents when they do not have the experience to know how to safely operate their vehicles. Gaining experience is a component of proper training to drive a truck, and trucking companies can hold liability when inexperience is the cause of accidents involving their drivers.
Truck accidents are dangerous and hurt many people every year. Seattle residents can often seek their damages through litigation and other legal avenues. Their attorneys can advise them of their rights and what options may serve their needs as they recover from their truck accident losses.