Without well-trained professional truck drivers to haul our nation’s food, building materials, clothing, and just about everything else we use in the U.S., our country would not be an economic power, and we could not live the lives we lead. Truck drivers receive the brunt of the blame for most of the carnage left on […]
Without well-trained professional truck drivers to haul our nation’s food, building materials, clothing, and just about everything else we use in the U.S., our country would not be an economic power, and we could not live the lives we lead. Truck drivers receive the brunt of the blame for most of the carnage left on the roads from truck accident. However, truck drivers are also vulnerable to the negligence of others as well. Truck drivers are injured or killed in crashes involving passenger cars and other big rigs where the other driver’s negligence caused the fatal or injurious accident.
Drivers of large trucks are well protected by their vehicles. The height and size of the tractor pulling a trailer give the driver far more protection against death or injury than the people in a passenger car, which collides with a tractor-trailer. However, drivers could sustain severe injuries or die in accidents involving other big rigs, and when the negligent operation of a car forces the truck driver to take evasive action and, as a result, rolls the truck over, jackknifes, or drives off of the road to avoid a crash. Additionally, truck drivers could be hurt or killed in “runaway” truck incidents that occur due to the negligence of another person as a result of faulty repairs or when the cargo is improperly loaded and balanced.
Truck drivers sometimes sustain severe injuries in collisions with other vehicles. Truck driver injuries include traumatic brain injury (TBI), paralysis, spinal cord injuries, quadriplegia, paraplegia, broken or fractured bones, burns, and amputations. These painful and life-altering injuries could saddle the truck driver with a large number of medical bills, lost wages, lost ability to earn wages in the future, future medical costs, rehabilitation, loss of the enjoyment of life, along with pain and suffering. The family of a truck driver who died in a crash could receive a damage award that includes wrongful death damages, loss of society, and loss of consortium.