Read more on how to make the Grieving Families Act happen here.

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When a truck is unsafe, or parties are careless, a crash can happen. And when they do, the consequences can be catastrophic.

Truck size and weight

The fact is that trucks are enormous and heavy. As a result, they have large blind spots. They require more time to slow down and come to a stop. They cause considerably more damage to smaller vehicles and the people inside when compared to the damage and injury they might sustain.

These factors make trucks highly dangerous to the people who share the road.

Unsafe truckers

We all make mistakes when we drive. However, truckers can make certain errors behind the wheels of their rigs that endanger others.

For instance, truckers can pose a serious threat if they:

• Fall asleep
• Get distracted
• Drive while using drugs or alcohol
• Drive without proper training
• Do not have the necessary credentials
• Fail to comply with traffic laws
• Drive recklessly

Drivers who make these mistakes can dramatically increase the risk of crashing.

All of this was true even before the Pandemic, but driver shortages are leading to the placement of even more unqualified and unsafe drivers on the road.

Irresponsible companies

Trucking companies and owners want to make money, and some will put others at risk to protect their bottom lines. 

For instance, they may push drivers to operate outside the limits of Hours of Service regulations so that they can meet deadlines. Doing this can mean truckers are too tired to drive safely.

Some companies also fail to maintain and repair trucks properly. As a result, trucks can be on the road with faulty brakes, obstructed windshields or underinflated tires, all of which can contribute to or cause a devastating crash.

Holding parties accountable

Truck crashes happen when people make mistakes, whether that includes the trucker, the trucking company or someone else. And the outcome of these mistakes is often disastrous for victims.

Investigating these incidents to identify the liable party can help injured victims and their families file a legal claim to pursue the compensation they deserve.

The post Common Causes of Truck Crashes in New York appeared first on Campbell & Associates.

However, too often, people driving on our interstates wind up injured or worse after a catastrophic crash.

Common types of crashes

Chain-reaction crashes happen when a primary collision triggers others. This might involve a driver swerving out of their lane, overcorrecting and crashing into another vehicle. The drivers behind them and in the opposite lanes may not have time to avoid the two disabled vehicles and can crash into other cars or trucks.

Trucking crashes are also not unusual on roads like the New York State Thruway and Southern Tier Expressway. These are crucial routes for interstate and intrastate transportation, meaning there can be many commercial vehicles on these roads at any time.

Truck rollovers and jackknifed trucks can happen, and they pose a serious threat to motorists. Rollovers occur when a trucker changes direction too quickly; jackknifes can occur when a trucker brakes too quickly.

On other local highways, like Routes 5, 60, 62 and 75, collisions often involve:

• Speeding
• Confusion
• Failure to stop at an intersection
• Distraction

These factors are certainly not exclusive to highways and interstates. Still, they can have an especially devastating impact on victims because of how fast people may be driving and how many people can be involved.

Protecting yourself on these roadways

When you are driving on I-90 and I-86, it is crucial to take precautions to avoid a crash and protect yourself. This includes:

• Wearing your seat belt
• Focusing on the road around you
• Pulling over if you feel tired
• Giving other vehicles plenty of space
• Staying out of a truck’s blind spots
• Obeying speed limits and other traffic laws

These measures can help you reach your destination safely and increase the likelihood that other motorists will, too.

The post The Catastrophic Consequences of Interstate Crashes appeared first on Campbell & Associates.

While motor vehicle crash fatalities overall were down in 2017, fatalities involving large trucks increased by 9%, according to NHTSA. There were 4,761 people killed in semi truck crashes in 2017.

Understanding a bit about these semi truck wrecks may help some people to find ways that they can remain safe. Unfortunately, the World Health Organization estimates that semi truck wrecks will become the fifth most common cause of deaths in this country by 2030.

What causes semi truck wrecks?

According to 2014 data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the most common factor associated with semi truck crashes is brake problems. This highlights the importance of proper maintenance and checking the condition of the rig before the trucker heads out on a haul.

Inattentive or distracted driving is another major cause of semi truck crashes, according to the FMCSA. In fact, driver factors like drowsiness, distraction, poor decision-making or faulty execution accounted for 87% of the critical reasons for semi truck crashes. Only 10% of crashes were caused by issues with the vehicle, according to the FMCSA.

Truckers must ensure that they are following proper safety protocols when they drive. This includes following speed limits and driving laws. They must also take care to get enough sleep, avoid all types of impairment and be vigilant behind the wheel.

When do semi truck crashes occur?

The majority of semi truck crashes occur from noon to 3:00 in the afternoon. From 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon, people tend to be sleepy because of the circadian rhythm. This could mean that fatigue is a contributing factor for those crashes.

When you’re struck by a semi truck and suffer injuries, you’ll need to seek medical care. This can be a costly journey. Having to cover those expenses can be difficult. You may need to seek compensation to help cover those expenses. Your attorney can help you determine what other types of damages might be possible in your case. Be sure you get this process started quickly since there are time limits in this state for filing the claim.

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That means delivery trucks will be everywhere, whether you’re on the highway, on the city’s streets or in your own neighborhood. The danger you face is considerable.

Why are delivery trucks so dangerous during the holidays?

It comes down to one simple factor: Companies are choosing speed over safety. To lure people away from brick-and-mortar stores, online businesses have increased their delivery speeds. The goal, naturally, is to maximize profits by convincing consumers that it’s more convenient — and nearly as fast — to shop online instead of trudging to an actual store for whatever they want.

For example, Amazon’s fleet of delivery vehicles and their promised one-day and two-day delivery speeds have been met with a lot of scrutiny over the last few years. Investigations into the online mega-retailer show that the company consistently pushes its delivery drivers exceptionally hard. In many cases, drivers complained they were given inadequate training and expected to make deliveries with inhuman speed.

But Amazon is hardly alone in this. Delivery drivers of all kinds, including those delivering packages for UPS and FEDEX, are under a lot of pressure. That can cause them to make errors in judgment when they drive that put others at risk.

Plus, many delivery drivers are stressed out and distracted on their routes. Unless they know a neighborhood very well, they may be focused more on their dispatcher’s voice over a headset or the directions from their electronic guidance system than the road. That can lead to tragic accidents with other vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians.

What can you do if you’re injured in a wreck with a delivery driver?

Knowing there’s danger out there doesn’t necessarily make it possible to avoid it. You can do everything right out there and still end up in a crash with a negligent delivery driver. If that happens, find out more about your right to compensation for your injuries and losses.

The post The Holiday Season Is Here: Be Wary of Delivery Trucks appeared first on Campbell & Associates.

Having federal laws in place about the expectations for commercial truckers ensures that drivers know to follow the same rules regardless of what state they work in on any particular day. Looking at some of those federal rules can give you a better idea of some of the risks for commercial truck crashes.

The commercial drivers’ contract with Americans

Commercial drivers get to share the road with regular drivers, but commercial drivers have to follow the special rules to ensure the safety of other drivers. A violation of the rule is breaking their contract. This is frequently referred to as a “contract with Americans.”

There is a no-text rule for commercial drivers

Distracted driving is a risk for anyone on the road, but it is particularly dangerous for those operating big commercial trucks. Commercial vehicles already take longer to stop and more effort to maneuver when responding to changes in traffic conditions.

When you add distraction contributing an additional delay to a truck driver’s response, the result could be a crash that drastically impacts the lives of the people in the smaller vehicle involved. To protect the public, there is a federal ban on any kind of manual entry, even dialing a phone number, when driving a big rig.

Despite industry demands, there are limits on driving times

Your brain isn’t an infallible organ that will work indefinitely. It needs proper nutrition and rest in order to function. Commercial truck drivers subject to strict timelines might decide to drive when they should actually be asleep. Some feel they have no choice because of company requirements.

In order to prevent employers from forcing their drivers onto the road while they are drowsy or fatigued, the federal government puts specific limits on the amount of time someone can be on shift, as well as how many hours they can work in a week and how many hours they can drive during a single shift.

Even personal traffic tickets can impact a commercial license

Commercial drivers can lose their eligibility for commercial driving if they get caught driving while under the influence in a commercial vehicle or their personal vehicle. In fact, less serious driving infractions can also impact a commercial driver’s eligibility.

As you can probably guess from the three rules discussed above, fatigue, distraction and unsafe driving habits can all contribute to the risk of a commercial crash. Many of these crashes are the result of bad driving decisions, inattention and other preventable issues.

If you suspect that a driver violated federal or state rules prior to a collision, that could mean you have the right to bring a civil claim against the driver or possibly their employer, depending on the circumstances.

The post What Trucking Safety Laws Can Teach You About Truck Crashes appeared first on Campbell & Associates.

These collisions often occur from the side or the rear. For example, a tractor-trailer spins out and jack-knives on the roadway in order to avoid a crash, however, the cars traveling behind it suddenly find themselves unable to avoid the crash.

Poorly marked trucks, negligent truck drivers

Negligence on the part of the truck driver or truck driving company often are reasons for underride collisions. Maybe the driver is inexperienced, had improper training or was under the influence of a controlled substance or alcohol.

The following provides more detailed descriptions of underride collisions:

• From the side: Often, such crashes occur at night. Visibility is usually low. The typical scenario for these types of crashes involves slow-moving trucks trying to turn or cross onto a roadway. Contributing factors include obscured or non-working lights on the truck’s side.
• From the rear: Such collisions often occur because the big-rig truck or its trailer or insufficiently marked. Other ways rear underride collisions occur are when a truck driver neglects to use emergency flashers when entering or exiting a roadway or when he or she fails to place reflective triangles on the road while parked at the side.

More and more big-rig trucks include rear underride guards, which serve as metal bumpers hanging from the back of their vehicles. These devices are meant to prevent crashes from the rear. It is about time more the trucking industry implements more safety standards. Regardless, motorists must remain alert and cautious when sharing the road with these vehicles.

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The interaction between “no fault” benefits and the “serious injury” threshold is a compromise.  On one hand, as the name suggests, drivers in New York are entitled to reimbursement for basic economic loss (lost wages and medical expenses), even if the collision at issue is entirely their fault. 

 The flipside of that compromise is the serious injury threshold.  While everyone is entitled to no-fault benefits, not everyone who is involved in a motor vehicle collision is entitled to compensation for their injuries.  Only “serious injuries” qualify.

The law defines nine different categories of injuries that apply.  Some of those categories are self-explanatory and easy to determine.  For example, “death”, “dismemberment”, “fracture”, or “loss of fetus”.

However, some of the classifications are not so clear.  For example, “permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member”.  What does that mean?  Fortunately, this is an oft-litigated area of law, so the answer to that question is readily accessible to attorneys who specialize in this area of law.  But what about the average person?

Unfortunately, many insurance companies attempt to take advantage of the average person’s misconceptions and lack of understanding regarding these specialized questions of law.  Very often, upon learning that someone has been involved in a motor vehicle collision for which they might be on the hook, they will swoop in, contact the injured person almost immediately, and act like they are there to be helpful.  Sometimes, they even mislead the person, telling them (incorrectly) that under New York law they cannot possibly get money for their injuries unless they die, lose a limb, or break a bone.  Then they try and convince the person to sign a release for a small amount of money, effectively cutting off all their rights.  The results can be tragic.

The most important things for you to understand are: 1) you should never speak with a representative from another person’s insurance company before first consulting with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney so that you know your rights; and 2) just because you may not have a broken bone, or a massive scar, or some other immediately apparent injury does not mean that you can’t or won’t qualify under the serious injury threshold.  Injuries can sometimes be latent and take weeks or even months to be fully diagnosed.  For example, to what extent a person has suffered a serious neck or back injury is often not apparent for many months.  The symptoms linger, various types of treatment are tried, and finally an MRI is ordered which reveals that there is a herniated disc or other serious spine injury.  Therefore, if you have any injury which requires medical treatment, you should consult with a good attorney as soon as possible.

At Campbell & Associates, our practice is 100% focused on personal injury and representing victims of other people’s negligence.  You can always call [nap_phone id=”LOCAL-REGULAR-NUMBER-Eden”] for a free consultation.

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