Are Truck Accidents Different From Auto Accidents?

Trucking accidents

As you might expect, there are differences between accidents which involve one or more eighteen-wheelers and accidents that exclusively involve passenger vehicles. Many 18-wheeler trucks travel through New York every day, and you share the road with them almost every time you get in your car to go somewhere.

One notable difference between commercial truck accidents and accidents involving passenger vehicles is that the drivers of tractor trailers are trained professionals. You may drive on the highway to get to and from your job, but the truck driver behind the wheel of the tractor-trailer truck in the next lane is currently on the clock.  If you can imagine all of the things that a person can experience during a typical workday, you can imagine what things might be like for the drivers of tractor trailers. For example, if you are working on a project which involves a rapidly approaching deadline, you might work as quickly as you can in order to get it done on time. Truckers must often meet tight deadlines, and often, the pressure to get their load to its destination on time causes them to focus more on speed than on safety. Also, some jobs are mentally and physically exhausting. Trucking is a tough job, and between the aforementioned deadlines and the long hours on the road, drivers often experience fatigue. Unfortunately, driver fatigue is still one of the leading causes of trucking accidents despite recent changes to federal regulations which apply to the trucking industry.

The vehicles themselves make accidents involving semi-trailers much different than wrecks involving only smaller vehicles. For one thing, they are enormous. Not only are eighteen wheelers longer and taller than other vehicles on the road, they are heavier, too. While the exact weight of a trailer truck can vary depending upon the weight of its cargo, many of them tip the scale at weights of up to eighty thousand pounds. Because of their size and weight, the amount, severity, and types of injury and damage that tractor trailers can cause when they crash far exceeds that which can happen with passenger vehicles alone.

Tractor-trailer accident cases involve various types of evidence, some of which are not present in automobile accident cases. An attorney who understands trucking accident cases knows how to obtain and interpret the physical evidence and business records which you must present to the court in support of your trucking accident claim.

An additional difference between eighteen-wheeler accidents and passenger vehicle accidents is the number of parties who are involved in the accident. The truck driver and the parties in any other vehicles which were involved in the crash are parties, but not all of the parties are at the scene of the accident. Depending upon the type of accident and the cause of the accident, other parties who could be involved in a lawsuit following the accident include the company which owns the truck and employs the driver, the manufacturer of the truck, the manufacturer of parts which are used to maintain the truck, and repair facilities which have done work on the truck.

The differences between tractor trailer accidents and passenger vehicle accidents may make it more difficult to obtain resolution of your claim for damages following an accident. Also, trucking cases involve various state and Federal laws which do not apply to passenger vehicle crashes.

Accidents involving tractor trailers therefore require attorneys with specialized knowledge of trucking accidents. The New York Truck Attorneys at Parker Waichman LLP understand how to help trucking accident victims and their families obtain a full monetary recovery.  To learn more, call us at 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529) to receive your personal injury consultation.