Wichita Truck Accidents Lawyers

The cause of truck accident cases is a complicated issue that our Wichita truck accident injury attorneys understand. All truck drivers are required to be qualified under FMCSR Part 391.11. This federal regulation requires all truck drivers to not permit a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle unless that driver is qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle. (CMV). 

The trucking company or business that hires a professional drive must make sure that the driver is at least 21 years old, can read and write the English language, can safely operate the type of CMV given to the driver, is medically and physically qualified to drive a tractor-trailer and has successfully completed a road test and has a certificate of the driver road test. 

The top 20 Causes of Large Truck and Tractor-trailer Accidents. 

• Driver Fatigue.
  Driver fatigue has many different causes. Lack of sleep is one of the primary reasons for driver fatigue. Other factors that cause driver fatigue are the time of day the driver is acting, length of driving hours and whether they are over the maximum hours-of-service rules of service. The Large truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) reported that 13% of commercial motor vehicle drivers were considered fatigued at the time of their crash.

• On-time Delivery.
  Work requirements like requiring drivers to make on-time deliveries are another major cause of tractor-trailer crashes. Many readers may remember the famous Dominos Pizza promise of delivery in 30 minutes or it is free. That employer requirement led to a multimillion-dollar verdict against Dominoes and ended this practice. However, many food delivery companies like Pizza Hut still require pizza delivery drivers to leave the facility, deliver the pizza to the customer and then return to pick up another pizza within 18 minutes. The practice of on-time deliveries is not unique to pizzas and food service. For both short-haul and long-haul drivers many businesses require the drivers to arrive with their cargo on time at all costs. When the driver is late, they are usually punished by warnings, suspension, termination and some companies require the driver to pay a penalty for the load that was delivered late. 

• Nighttime driving.
  Nighttime driving is inherently dangerous according to the DOT and Federal Highway Administration. This is because at least half of traffic fatalities occur at nighttime.
• Drunk driving and intoxicated driving.
  Drunk driving and drugged driving is subject to Part 382.301 requires pre-employment testing for controlled substances on alcohol and drug testing prior to allowing the driver to operate a truck on behalf of the company. Part 382.303 requires post-accident testing as soon as practicable following an accident with a CMV if the driver was performing a safety-sensitive function if the accident led to loss of human life or if the driver received a citation within 8 hours of the accident if the accident involved bodily injury to any person or one or more of the involved vehicles had disabling damage that required it to be towed from the scene. 

• Distracted driving and texting.
  Distracted driving has been studied in depth by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). FMCSA report No. 09-042 This study found that truck drivers engaged in non-driving tasks related to driving in 71 percent of all the large truck crashes. The distractions related to texting, looking at dispatch devices, writing on notepads while driving, studying maps while driving and reading books or newspapers were major critical events causing severe large truck crashes. The FMCSA addresses distracted driving for CMV drives advising that drivers should not text, dial a handheld phone, use a dispatching device or read or write while driving. 

• Following too closely.
  Following too closely is a significant cause of tractor-trailers accidents. The LTCCS reported that 5 percent of truck crashes occur when the truck driver is following another motor vehicle too closely.

• Speeding too fast for conditions.
  The LTCCS found that 23 percent of all large truck crashes occurred when the commercial motor vehicle drivers were traveling too fast for the existing traffic conditions. Examples of these conditions include, rain and wet roads, fog with reduced visibility, smoke, snow, ice, uneven roads, construction zones, intersections, gravel roads and heavy traffic conditions. 
• Inadequate Evasive Action.
  Inadequate evasive action by the truck driver causes 14 percent of safety-critical events. These negligent errors are from not steering appropriately, not braking quickly and sufficiently, and failing to take evasive action to avoid stopped or stopping traffic.
• Inadequate Training.
  Inadequate driver training is a major cause of commercial motor vehicle accidents. The FMCSA has a commercial driver’s license program which requires the driver applicant to pass a skills and knowledge test in order to properly operate certain commercial motor vehicles. The LTCCS problem statement indicated that the effects of truck driving training and experience were to be studied to reduce truck crashes.

• Rollover Crashes.
  The loads of cargo carried by truck drivers operating tractor-trailers are a frequent problem when poorly trained truck drivers fail to take account of their weight, height and security. The well known trucking industry study of rollover accidents entitled “Analysis of Large Truck Rollover Crashes” studied 239 rollover crashes and found that at least half of these rollover accidents were due to driver error in failing to adjust or reduce speed for curves in the roadway ahead of the semi. 

• Improper braking.
  The FMCSA LTCCS study and analysis of large truck crashes found that 29% of the 41,000 truck crashes were due to poor driver braking and improper braking along with finding improperly maintained brakes as a contributing factor to large truck crashes.

• Rear end crashes. 
  Colliding with the rear end of another vehicle in the truck’s lane of travel was responsible for 22 percent of large truck crashes and was one of the three main critical events found in the LTCCS. 

• Improper maintenance.
  Vehicle maintenance is one of the seven categories under the CSA BASICs and helps as a ranking criteria for safety in following the FMCSR. This is to comply with 49 CFR Parts 293, 393 and 396 which require that a commercial motor vehicle be properly and safely maintained with daily inspections. When the tractor-trailer has maintenance problems with lamps, brakes, tires, and other mechanical defects the CMV must be taken Out-of-Service to be repaired in order to prevent truck crashes with cars, motor vehicles and pedestrians.

• Blind spots.
  Blind spots for large trucks and tractor-trailers are identified as a significant safety problem. The blind spot area is called the no-zone. The FMCSA teaches truck drivers in their CMV Driving Tips on Inadequate Surveillance that some of the blind spots are so large that a passenger vehicle can virtually disappear from the driver’s view once inside the blind spot. They also teach that many drivers are unaware of this dangerous blind spot phenomenon.

• Jackknife accidents.
  Jackknife large truck crashes cause a substantial amount of injuries and fatalities when a tractor-trailer jackknifes into other cars and motor vehicles traveling down the highway. In the study of Large Trucks in Crashes by Jackknife Occurrence and Crash Severity, 2020, the FMCSA studied several hundred thousand truck crashes and 107,000 injury truck crashes finding that 51.6% of the total crashes studied ended in injury. 4,842 crashes ended in fatality and made up 38.4% of the studied group. 

• Road conditions.
  Poor road conditions are one of the critical events that cause large truck crashes from the truck driver losing control of the tractor-trailer while driving down a road or highway. 

• Equipment failure.
  Equipment failure is one of the critical events that leads to injuries and fatalities in large truck crashes. This is such an important factor that the FMCSA has issued a rule that DOT licensed large trucks and tractors may not be driven unless the driver is satisfied that its parts and accessories are in good working condition.

• Bad Weather Conditions.
  Hazardous weather conditions cause a tremendous number of large truck crashes with motor vehicles in Kansas each year. Part 392.14 of the FMCSR requires that the truck driver use extreme caution when hazardous weather conditions adversely affect visibility or traction. When conditions worsen and become sufficiently dangerous, the truck driver and trucking company must immediately discontinue driving until the truck can be safely operated. These are weather conditions like snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain, dust, or smoke. 

• Aggressive and reckless driving.
  The NHTSA defines aggressive driving as “The operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that is likely to endanger persons or property.” This term is closely related to road rage. The study concluded that the reasons for aggressive driving are usually from traffic delays, running late, disregard for others or the law and can be from habitual behavior. There is no room for aggressive driving with professional truck drivers. 

• Failing to secure loads.
  Falling loads of cargo create hazardous conditions for the regular public driving cars and smaller motor vehicles. It became such a huge problem causing injury and fatalities to the public that in 2002 the FMCSA adopted new cargo securement rules for motor carriers operating in interstate commerce. The new performance criteria rules are based on acceleration and deceleration forces that move forward, rearward or laterally to protect cargo from shifting and overturning the tractor-trailer or falling off the truck or tractor-trailer where another motor vehicle can have an accident with the tractor-trailer or falling cargo. Generally, cargo must be firmly immobilized or secured with traps, anchors, tiedowns and other securement methods. 

• Poor medical condition of driver.
  Truck drivers must see a qualified medical doctor and receive a medical certificate that they are physically qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle. Many truck drivers try to operate tractor-trailers in poor health or when taking prescription medications that make it unsafe for them to professionally drive a large tractor-trailer and they cause large truck accidents that injury or kill other drivers on the roads. Part 391.41 of the FMCSR can prohibit and disqualify truck drivers from driving when they have diabetes, certain heart conditions, lung and respiratory conditions, vision impairment, high blood pressure, epilepsy, mental or psychiatric disorders, and alcohol or substance abuse medical issues.