Maryland Truck Accident Crash Dynamics
The following is information regarding truck accident crashes in Maryland and what factors can lead them to occur. If you have been involved in a truck accident and are interested in filing a claim, call and schedule a consultation with a Maryland truck accident injury lawyer today.
What a Typical Truck Accident Looks Like
Truck accidents typically occur on the highway because many trucks are prohibited from driving on residential streets or residential areas. Trucking accidents also can occur at high speeds and low speeds. These types of accidents typically involve multiple vehicles because of how much space a truck takes up on the roadway. Because of this, truck accidents are potentially much more severe and can cause much greater harm to the people involved.
Difference Between Cars and Trucks
The trucks are higher than vehicles so they have a higher center of gravity and therefore may be less stable. There’s also the potential for rollover or stopping short or skidding on the road. So there are several different aspects of the physics involved or the dynamics involved that a truck will bring itself to a safe stop as opposed to regular vehicle.
Typically if you’re traveling one and a half to two car lengths behind another vehicle, you should have enough time to stop if the car had to be stopped. However if you’re driving a truck, you have to have more space between your vehicle and the other vehicle so that you can bring your vehicle to a safe stop or change lanes. Because of the length of the truck and the weight of the truck and the nature of the way the truck is built, if a truck driver stops short or doesn’t leave enough space or time to stop relative to the cars ahead then the cargo could spill into the front of the truck or it could rollover. So the damages are very different than a regular car accident.
Aspects of Truck Driving That Can Lead to Accidents?
A truck could swerve or if it curves too fast it could drift out of its lane. It could roll over, it could stop short. There are several things that could cause truck accidents that are discussed above.
Things That Can Cause Truck Accidents
One thing that is important to keep in mind is that a truck can’t make the same turns that a regular vehicle can. A truck will often have to make a wider turn to accommodate the cargo or the tractor trailer or any kind of carrier they have behind them. Therefore, if the truck isn’t paying full time and attention and they don’t give themselves enough room, they can end up colliding with other vehicles. Additionally, because a truck is so large they have significant blind spots and if they don’t monitor the vehicle and their blind spots, at routine intervals and then change lanes that could end up in a car accident.
Can Weather Be a Factor?
Weather can be a factor in all accidents and especially in trucking accidents. Weather factors into all accidents because motorists must change their normal behavior in that they must use greater caution and often time should drive more slowly to maintain full control of their vehicle. A driver who fails to maintain control of their vehicle will cause much greater harm if that vehicle is a large truck. Decreased visibility is also a factor when inclement weather is present on the roadway and may prevent a truck driver from seeing smaller vehicles on the roadway which could cause accidents
Other Factors That Can Lead To Truck Accidents
Due to the fact that the trucks are so large and sometimes truckers go across state lines or across several states, driver fatigue can be a big issue. Drivers have to be alert at all times to be able to drive and position and maintain their trucks in a safe manner and maintain their lanes and maintain their destinations. If they’re fatigued and they have poor reaction times or just don’t make routine inspections of their blind spots then those could lead to accidents.
In terms of load distribution one of the things that can happen is if the load is not secure properly, such as if it’s carrying lumber or other cars or anything else that’s solid material then those could potentially either fall off the back or if the truck stops or it’s going up the hill or they could fall out of the side if they’re not secured and they could cause damage to their vehicle in the roadway. Even drivers to the side of the truck who aren’t expecting to be struck by any of this solid cargo debris.
In terms of liquids, if the truck isn’t balanced properly or it’s not weighted properly, then the liquid could move inside the tanker and thus cause either the back-end of the car, of the truck to fishtail across other lanes to the side of the truck where it could cause potential rollover causing the whole truck to turn over especially if that truck is facing, going downhill or downhill at a curve or it has to curve to the left or to the right and the person who’s driving the truck doesn’t have sufficient or enough reaction time to over correct or correct its potential mistakes.
