There are trucks of all sizes on the roads in Montgomery, AL. While truckers play a vital role in the economy, they are also responsible for an increasing number of accidents on the roads. Hardly a day goes by when an 18-wheeler is not involved in a traffic accident.
The biggest problem is that trucking accidents tend to result in significant damage. Whenever a truck is involved in an accident, other cars, passengers and pedestrians also often get severely injured or killed. Compared to car accidents, trucking accidents are associated with more severe injuries, including permanent injuries and disability.
There are many causes of trucking accidents including:
Truck Driver Fatigue: Most truckers drive for a living and often work long hours, including night shifts. This often results in sleep deprivation and driver fatigue. This can be a real hazard for the driver as well as those on the road, especially when the vehicle in question is a truck. A significant number of trucking accidents are because of exhausted and tired truck drivers.
Speeding: Speeding is a major problem with truck drivers. There is a general perception that truck drivers tend to speed and drive recklessly because they feel that they own the road. They are also quite confident that because of the large size of their vehicle, they are least likely to be injured if an accident occurs. In addition, truckers also tend to be impatient and have a tendency to overtake as well as drive fast.
Distracted
Most tractor-trailer drivers are long-haul drivers and operates trucks with a gross vehicle weight. Capacity- that is,the combined weight of the vehicle,passengers ,and cargo- exceeding 26,000 pounds. Heavy tractor truck drivers usually have a high school diploma and attend a professional truck driving school. The must have a commercial license. The median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck was 41,340 in may 2016.truck drivers,along with drivers/sales worker, had a workplace fetal injury rate of 24.3 in 2012, more than 7 times higher than the overall workplace average. Their rate of nonfatal injuries and their rate of nonfatal injuries and illnesses involving days away from work was 294.7 cases per 10,000 full-time workers ,almost 3 times the rate for all private industry occupations. During 2012,756 truck drivers lost their live in work-related incidents,while over 65,000 private truck driver suffered injuries and illnesses that resulted in time away from work according to the u.s. Bureau
Truckers are required to check over their rigs for inspection purposes and follow all laws of the road. They usually work long hours on the road, it helps to keep the truck and everything else clean (Summary). Normally truck drivers consider the late morning, early afternoon as the best time of the day for truck
According to the results from the 2009 AAA Foundation’s Traffic Safety Culture Index published on April 2009 and accessed on May 16, 2016, “78 percent of respondents rated aggressive drivers as a serious or extremely serious traffic safety problem. However, many of the same people reported driving in ways that could be classified as aggressive.”
Eighteen wheelers are a vital part of interstate commerce in our country. The big rigs carry products across state lines, and keep our stores’ shelves stocked with the things we need on a daily basis. But, when a trucker is involved in an accident, the injuries are usually catastrophic. The sheer weight of a truck is such that when it collides with a car, the results are severe. Drivers and passengers in cars can suffer broken bones, internal organ damage, spinal and brain cord injuries, or even death. Staying safe around big rigs requires drivers to pay extra special attention when near a truck, and to keep a safe distance. But, drivers can only do so much; it also takes diligence on the part of the trucker in order to safely share the road.
Impatience: Impatience can cause collisions because people are rushing or just don’t want to way therefore they ignore traffic laws and drive much more aggressively this sort of driving is much more dangerous on country roads because people can cross into the other lane to pass and get in a head-on collision and possibly kill the other driver as well as themselves. I have seen at least one collision caused by this sort of driving near my cottage because one drive went to pass in the opposite lane without the appropriate amount of space there for killing themselves in the collision. This sort of driving can be minimized by leaving early enough to get there even if there is traffic or other slowdowns and if you are getting frustrated pull over to a gas station or something and get out to take a little walk.
Truck drivers are essential to this country’s economy. Truck driving is one of the only ways that this country has found to transport most of the goods we produce. There are many flaws in the other ways we transport goods. As the demand for supply goes up the demand for truck drivers will go up as well. Driving a tractor- trailer or a semi- trailer is a great career because of the job outlook, the work environment, and the benefits and compensation.
I’ve always been in awe of the hard work that truck drivers do, so I never really realized that other people didn’t acknowledge the effort that goes into driving a truck for such long hours. The average American sees semi-trucks as an added danger on the road, something that just gets in their way. They fail to realize that “3.5 million truckers (deliver) 69 percent of the stuff we buy—- $670 billion worth of stuff” (Laskas 253). Without truck drivers on tour highways, every single business in our country would be doomed. There would be no way to efficiently transport goods nationwide. Whether the general populace likes it or not, truck drivers are necessary to our economy, and we need to realize
This lack of rest contributes to distraction while driving, which can cause accidents. Other common scenarios in which the employer might be held at least partially responsible for a truck accident include:
Typically, the way that the trucking companies try to handle an injury accident is to simply pay off their victims to keep them quiet. They may work with a team of truck defense lawyers and insurance companies to try to determine the absolute minimum amount that one of their victims will accept as a payment. It is the job of these trucking defense lawyers and insurance agents to get their clients off the hook for the lowest dollar amount possible, and they have grown exceedingly efficient at it. The priority for these California trucking defense lawyers is to minimize their client's financial liability and see to a quick resolution so that their clients can
In hopes to cut down on the speeding, speeding enforcement programs are put into place. With these programs they help cut down on the speeding a little in some of the areas, but not all areas can be monitored by police due to the limited space in most areas. Even with these programs there are the drivers who just don’t want to slow down when in the construction zones. When drivers are speeding through these zones, they also switch lanes quickly which is very dangerous in the tighter areas of the construction zones and can lead to accidents. The residents that drive cars aren’t the only ones speeding in these zones, but semi-trucks speed through them as well. When these big trucks are barreling through the already tight two lanes it can make for a nerve wrecking drive. One way to try to avoid these crazy drivers is to always pay attention. Make sure to checking all surroundings and keeping one’s eyes on the road. They lanes are very confined and the more attention that is paid it lessens the chance of getting into an accident with a speeding
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s released its Commercial Motor Vehicle Facts report in March 2013; that in 2012, there were 5,700,000 Commercial drivers operating in the United States and a total of 504,093 interstate freight carriers operating. There was also a total of 15,465 intrastate hazardous material carriers on the highway. In 2012 alone, there were 75,542 carriers permitted to drive on the highway and roughly an equal amount in 2011, with 75,519. The importance of all of these statistics is that with the ever-growing number of commercial vehicles on the road, the amount of accidents increase as well. In 2011, 3,757 traffic crash victims were killed in a crash with a large truck and nearly 88,000 were injured. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled is .136 for large trucks and busses and the injury rate is 3.8. The estimated costs of commercial motor vehicle crashes totaled $87 billion; with $39 billion from fatal crashes, $32 billion from injury crashes and $16 billion from property damage only crashes. Not all of these accidents and fatalities are commercial carriers fault, because there are other drivers on the road that are distracted or under the influence for instance, but there can be extra precautions taken to decrease the amount of crashes and damage. Decreasing the wait time, also known as detention time, at shipping and receiving facilities, allows the drivers to be driving
Everyone is affected by traffic accidents. The driver and passengers of the vehicles involved are affected because they could be injured and their personal time would be taken away. The families of the people involved are also emotionally affected if anyone was injured or killed. Traffic accidents cause issues with money and insurance depending on who caused the accident and the extent of the damage.
Truck drivers are professionals who have been provided specialized training to follow regulations that establish driving their large vehicles across the country, including Texas. However, it is an unfortunate truth that sometimes these companies put their bottom line ahead of public safety and the people of Texas and across the country pay for it.
When you factor in the unique properties of hazardous materials, such as being corrosive, there is added layer of caution that must be taken. Drivers must understand that most of the tanker trailers they haul will not be filled to capacity. That creates a situation where sloshing can occur. When this happens, the truck can be pushed forward in a sudden stop, or easily tipped if curves and turns are not negotiated properly. Training and experience overcome these issues and ensure a safe passage for the truck and other motorists. What's more, they are highly trained in the proper way to react in case of an accident or incident, to reduce the potential for injury or
Car accidents can happen to drivers anytime, anywhere. "According to the National Safety Council, which stated that more than 2.5 million collisions back every year, making it the most common type of car accidents, it is also known that the accident rear end as incidents of injury, because the nature of the collision leads often in whiplash injury the driver in the car in front and about 20% of people who participated in a rear collision injury symptoms of this kind. ", (NHTSA, auto-accident-resource.com). Among the car accidents, the teenage group is the only age group who is number of deaths is increasing instead of decreasing. Also, all the people are exposed to risk and actually every one of them has got car