Last Updated on February 26, 2024 by Ali Hamza
Large commercial trucks undoubtedly impose a threat on passenger cars and prove fatal during accidents due to their potency for underride accidents. Severe injuries or even death are a result of such accidents. In case of serious injuries, it is important to consult a Los Angeles truck accident attorney who will offer some effective suggestions on maximizing compensation for damage and injuries.
What Are Car Underride Accidents?
A truck underride accident typically occurs as a result of a smaller car hitting a truck’s back or side and, as a result making the vehicle slide below the truck’s trailer. Such accidents entertain the potential outcome of fatal injuries as crashes are severe due to the truck’s mass and heavyweight.
Causes Behind Truck Underride Accidents:
Every year about 300 people lose their lives in truck underride accidents. But why are they so common, and what are their causes?
A stereotypical cause behind truck accidents is blameworthy drivers. Still, they might also occur due to bad weather conditions, an absent underride guard, destroyed tail lights, sudden braking, or insufficient signals.
However, truck underride accidents usually occur in two ways: a side underride collision or a rear underride collision. Side underride collisions occur when the truck driver takes a U-turn or crosses the road, making the oncoming driver skip sight of the truck, resulting in an accident. In case of a rear underride collision, a passenger vehicle collapses under the back of a commercial truck or a semi-truck.
The severity of cases occurs as a result of the danger imposed by the cargo that the trucks carry, along with culpable driving. The lack of visibility at night also adds up to the reason for such fatal accidents.
Why Truck Underride Accidents Prove Fatal?
The size of commercial trucks is much bigger than that of passenger vehicles, which might force smaller vehicles to move under the trailer before stopping the truck. In most cases, the trailer pierces through the smaller vehicle, which carries the potential to cause severe injuries and in serious cases even death.
Final Thoughts
Truck accidents often lead to long and short-term cataclysmic effects that might threaten an individual’s financial and emotional security. A truck accident attorney equipped with all the knowledge encompassing the federal injury laws of the state will help in receiving the best compensation based on the severity of the injury or damage.
