Is a Truck Crash an Accident or an Unfortunate Event?
Unfortunate but Not an Accident
Defense attorneys and insurance companies like to confuse juries and lawyers with the false argument that a truck crash just happened accidentally. This is hogwash. The FMCSA published an article called “A crash is not an accident.” George L. Reagle wrote “the word ‘accident’ will no longer be used in materials we publish. . .”
These are the reasons:
- His reasoning is highly intelligent and logical. He wrote, “Since we can identify the causes of crashes, we can take action to alter the effect and avoid collisions. These are not Acts of God but predictable results of the laws of physics.”
- Some of the more intelligent points of Mr. Reagle’s publication identify that the words “crash,” “collision,” and “injury” are more appropriate words that should be substituted for the word accident.
- Reagle wrote, “Continued use of the word ‘accident’ implies that these events are outside human influence or control. In reality, they are predictable results of specific actions.”
- The FMCSA wrote, “Use of ‘accident’ fosters the idea that the resulting damage and injuries are unavoidable.” Clearly, this is a false conclusion further by the insurance industry and their defense lawyers trying to avoid paying financial compensation to victims.
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The point of all this for truck injury victims is simple. You need to only hire experienced truck accident lawyers who study the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) and the safety publications that have been published by the US government in their attempt to prevent injuries and fatalities by large truck crashes.
The Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) established that there are uniform patterns of negligent conduct and bad habits that lead to large truck and tractor-trailer crashes. Without negligent or reckless driving, the accidents would not happen. The FMCSA and DOT have conducted years of studies to determine why truck crashes happen.
Driver Error is the most significant reason that large truck crashes occur. This breaks down into four basic categories of human error:
- Non-performance. Nonperformance means the driver fell asleep, was disabled by a medical reason like a heart attack or seizure, or was physically impaired for another reason.
- Recognition. Recognition means the driver was inattentive, was distracted by something inside or outside the vehicle, or failed to observe the situation adequately for some other reason.
- Decision. Decision means that the driver was driving too fast for conditions, misjudged the speed of other vehicles, or followed other vehicles too closely.
- Performance. Performance means the driver panicked, overcompensated, or exercised poor directional control.
The top 10 factors causing motor vehicle and truck crashes are:
- Brake problems.
- Traffic flow interruption like congestion from road construction or a previous crash.
- Prescription drug use causes the driver to be unable to drive safely.
- Traveling too fast for conditions existing on the roadway.
- Unfamiliarity with the roadway.
- Roadway problems due to poor construction, resurfacing, or bad weather conditions.
- The vehicle was required to stop before the crash like failing to obey a traffic control device or crosswalk.
- Over-the-counter drug use.
- Inadequate surveillance of the area and vehicles or pedestrians around the driver on all sides.
- Fatigue.
The point to all of this is large truck crashes, injuries and wrongful death have a definite cause why they happen. They are not Acts of God, and they are not merely accidents occurring by chance. They are man made and always are a result of negligent hiring, negligent training, and negligent supervision where trucking companies place profits over life.
You can also call Brad’s cell phone at (316) 706-5020 for immediate support.
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