Truck accidents are one of the most serious kind of accidents on motorways which can cause severe injuries or even death. If the truck accident causes serious injuries, the truck driver might be liable and could pay a significant compensation to the victims of the accident.

In order to know what to do after a truck accident you first need to be familiar with the type of accidents there are and what may cause them.

What is a truck accident in Arizona?

In Arizona, trucks are defined as motor vehicles that are being used for carrying property for another entity, not for personal property. Usually, when people speak about trucks and truck accidents, they are referring to massive commercial trucks, for example:

• 18-wheeleers
• Semi-trucks
• Dump trucks
• Tow trucks
• Gas trucks
• Delivery trucks etc.

Common injuries caused by truck accidents

In the US, the average car weighs about 4,000 pounds while an average truck can weight 20 times more, so around 80,000 pounds. Because of the serious size difference, the injuries sustained in a truck accident are pretty serious. These normally include

• Spinal cord injuries
• Head injuries
• Broken bones
• Burn injuries
• Internal bleeding
• Traumatic brain injuries and
• Amputations

What are the most common causes of truck accidents?

Even though truck accidents can occur for any number of reasons, usually they are grouped into two main categories: poorly maintained truck and the negligence of the truck driver. But if we break those down, we get a list of most common causes of truck accidents:

• Poor road conditions
• Distracted driving
• Blind spots
• Speeding
• Tailgating
• Overloaded trucks
• Trucking company negligence
• Unreasonable driving schedule

After conducting some investigation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has identified a specific list of actions that lead to commercial truck accidents. These include

• Decision – In 38% of the cases, the truck driver was making poor decisions while driving (driving too fast, tailgating, misjudged a situation ect.)
• Recognition – In 28% of the cases the truck driver didn’t observe the entire situation before the accident properly because he was distracted by something.
• Non-performance – 12% of truck accidents occurred because the driver either fell asleep due to fatigue or had a medical emergency or was physically impaired.
• Vehicle – 10% of truck accidents occurred because the truck experienced some sort of failure
• Performance – 9% of the accidents occurred because the truck driver wasn’t prepared for a certain scenario on the motorway, panicked and made a bad call
• Environment – 3% of cases suggest that a truck accident occurred because of poor weather conditions such as heavy rain or fog

If you or your loved one was a victim of a truck accident in Arizona and you need legal advice, contact Schenk and Podolsky today and let us help you review your case and see if the accident was caused by negligent actions of others.