The Scarlett Law Group

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Big-Rig Trucking Accidents
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Truck Accident Lawyers California, Automobile Accident Claims 

Underride Truck Accidents

When a passenger vehicle slams partially or wholly under a truck or trailer whose base is higher than the car, potentially causing serious injury and even death to the car passengers is referred to as Truck Under-ride Accident. The height of the front of the car is not enough to hit the bed of the truck causing the car to slam partially or completely under the truck during collision. The height difference can be between 10 to 20 inches, this puts the bed of the truck right at the head-chest level of the passengers within the car, and injuries in these accidents tend to be catastrophic, if not fatal. If the vehicle occupants are more fortunate, the impact will occur near one of the truck axles, preventing the vehicle from going completely under the truck. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety front, rear or side under-ride tragedies occurred in nearly half of all fatal truck accidents.

Rear Under-ride
Rear under-ride collisions are extremely dangerous. Thousands of people throughout the world get killed or are seriously injured every year due to such collisions. The NHTSA issued a safety standard effective as of January 1998 for new trailers. All new trailers require complying with these safe guards. All trailers and large trucks manufactured prior to January 1998 and which are already on the road are still not covered under these standards.
 
This kind of crash is usually fatal because the truck bed and the chassis can penetrate passenger compartment of the car, typically hitting its occupants at the head and chest level. Safety devices such as trucking under-ride guards may prevent these types of catastrophic trucking accidents.
 
There are several circumstances under which an under-ride can occur. Some of the contributors to such collisions are
  • Failure to use reflective triangles properly when broken down on or near the road or when parked
  • Failure to use emergency flashers when entering or exiting the highway at slow speeds
  • Poorly-marked truck or trailer that is parked on the side of the road
  • Moving slowly as it enters the road
  • Slowing to exit the road, or slowing for a railroad crossing.
  • Dirty, dim or inoperative taillights; taillights placed very close together
At night the drivers may to get startled when they realize that the vehicle in front of them is much closer and moving much slower than they had perceived. If the following vehicle is traveling much faster than the lead vehicle, the following vehicle driver may not have enough time to react once he realizes the vehicle in front of him is traveling very slowly.

Side under-ride
A side under-ride collision usually occurs when a truck driver is attempting to cross or turn onto a street or highway, is attempting a U-turn, or is trying to back across traffic. There are several contributing factors in such accidents. Truck drivers commonly assume that oncoming drivers can see them crossing the road, this is often not true. The oncoming drivers do not see a truck crossing their path until it's too late.

A very slow-moving truck can also cause a side under-ride collision. A slow-moving truck takes more time to cross the road, making it a hazard for a longer period of time. Additionally, a slow-moving truck creates less contrast than a faster moving truck. Therefore it will be hard to perceive it as an obstruction. At low speeds, the side-marker lights appear to remain stationary. Therefore, an approaching driver will most likely perceive these lights as distant taillights or roadside markings.

Inoperative or dirty lights on the trailers side may result in side under-ride collisions. Ambient lighting intensity and placement can also contribute to cause the collision. As an approaching driver's eyes adapt to the bright lights, a blackhole is created in the nearby unlit road. This makes it very difficult for a driver to see any trailer, whether it is lighted or not.

There has been no action from NHTSA, even though approximately 500 fatalities occur in under-ride collisions. Safety devices such as trucking under-ride guards may prevent these types of catastrophic trucking accidents.

In October 2004, Center for National Truck and Bus Statistics published that an average of 366 pedestrians and 69 bicyclists get killed each year in truck accidents. It is important to have all the information and the necessary knowledge to handle these cases.

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The Scarlett Law Group: Trucking Accident Lawyers
The information presented regarding trucking accident injury, semi-truck accidents, big rig accidents, truck accidents, auto-truck collisions injury, wrongful death or other legal information related to the practice of trucking accidents litigation on this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer or attorney client relationship. Any results set forth here were dependent on the facts of that case and the results will differ from case to case. Please contact a trucking accident injury lawyer, personal injury attorney or wrongful death lawyer at our San Francisco California law firm.