One mistake behind the wheel of a truck can cause jackknife truck accidents on our nation’s highways. Some 107,000 of those accidents in 2020 involved injuries.

You may be a safe and cautious driver, but you share the road with semi-trailer trucks and accidents involving these large trucks can be devastating. If you have been injured in a jackknife truck accident, you may have legal recourse.

What May Cause a Jackknife accident?

Semi-trailer trucks are massive in size and weight and can therefore result in very serious injuries. Smaller vehicles with trailers attached can also trigger jackknife accidents but the bigger the truck, the more dangerous the accident. Static friction plays a big role in these types of accidents. When the tires lose static friction, they begin to slide. The inadequate friction can lead the trailer to move to the side of the truck, causing a truck to jackknife for some of the following reasons:

When a tractor-trailer truck rolls over, it can cause a great deal of damage, especially if the truck collides with other vehicles. If you were involved in a rollover accident with a commercial truck, then you might have significant injuries that required hospitalization and surgery. You might have difficulty returning to work or providing for your family while you recover. The good news is that you might be able to recover compensation for your losses by filing a truck accident lawsuit against the truck driver or trucking company. But before you can do that, it is important to understand what caused the accident.

Negligence Leading to Truck Rollover Accidents

There are many different factors that can contribute to a commercial truck rollover accident. Some of the most common reasons include:

• Unsecured Loads: If a truck's cargo is not properly secured, then it can shift during transport. This can throw off the balance of the truck, making it more likely to tip over, especially when a truck driver is traveling at high speeds or negotiating tight corners.

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Trucking companies and carriers have a crucial responsibility to ensure that their trucks and the drivers who operate the trucks do not put others in danger. Commercial trucks are huge vehicles and accidents involving large trucks are often catastrophic. Nearly 5,000 people lost their lives in large truck collisions in 2020 and thousands more were injured.

In some cases, truck crashes or accidents caused by fallen truck cargo are caused by trucking company negligence. When trucking companies take shortcuts during the hiring process or supervision of truck drivers, the companies can be liable for any crashes that occur as a result.

Unqualified Truck Drivers Can Cause Crashes

Driving a large semi-truck, tractor-trailer, or flatbed is no easy task. It takes a great amount of skill to operate a large vehicle safely. Trucking companies must ensure that drivers are qualified to operate a commercial truck by properly vetting applicants.

An unfortunate reality of driving is that every time you are on the road, you are putting yourself at risk of getting into a car crash. Thankfully, the risk is small, and in most cases, you will not be the victim of a motor vehicle accident. 

However, you can only control your own driving habits. If other people choose to distract themselves while driving, they are subsequently increasing your chances of getting into an accident as a result of their decisions. 

Have you been the victim of a distracted driver truck accident in Springfield? If so, we are here to help you learn more about distracted driving cases and how to open a personal injury claim in Springfield. 

Commercial trucks travel thousands of miles as they deliver cargo throughout the United States. Trucks experience a great deal of wear and tear, and if they are not properly maintained, different systems may break down or function incorrectly. This can lead to dangerous truck accidents that may injure people in other vehicles. Following a collision involving a tractor-trailer truck, victims can work with an attorney to determine whether maintenance issues were a factor that led to the accident, and they can take steps to recover financial compensation from the parties who were responsible.

Commercial Truck Maintenance Issues

Regular maintenance must be performed on semi-trailer trucks to ensure that they can be operated safely. Truck drivers are required to complete daily inspection reports and submit them to a motor carrier. Trucking companies will need to make sure any issues uncovered during inspections are repaired properly, and they will also need to make sure regular service is performed to ensure that all of a truck’s systems are in proper working order. Some common maintenance issues that can lead to truck accidents include:

• Worn or underinflated tires - A truck’s tires will wear down over thousands of miles of travel, and damaged tires may blow out, potentially leading to rollover accidents or other situations where a truck driver may lose control and collide with other vehicles. These accidents may occur because tires are not inspected properly to determine whether they are worn, because they are not inflated to the correct pressure, or because they are not replaced when necessary.

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