Columbus Truck Accident Lawyers

Corporations cutting costs, potential truck driver shortages, and grueling expectations for current drivers mean there are more and more overtired truckers driving through Georgia.

The number of tractor-trailers, semi-trucks, and big rigs on Georgia roadways has risen dramatically in recent years. Sadly, as more and more large trucks take to Georgia highways, the rate of accidents and fatalities related to these tractor-trailers continues to climb. In recent years more than 5,000 large trucks have been involved in fatal injury crashes.

Large truck accidents account for over 4,800 fatalities across the U.S. each year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 10% of traffic fatalities are the result of collisions involving a large truck. In addition to the alarming rate of fatalities, another 100,000 individuals are injured in tractor-trailer accidents every year.

Common Negligent Trucking Practices

There are many types of negligent practices that may be a factor in causing a Columbus trucking accident at the fault of the driver, the company, a third party, a combination of these.

Unsafe driver practices include: drunk or drugged truck drivers, a lack of awareness of “no zones” (large truck blind spots), driver fatigue resulting from violations of hours of service rules, truck drivers who do not properly plan routes to avoid unsafe inclines and other unsafe roads for big-rigs, drivers that fail to drive at a safe speed given the braking and handling limitations of commercial trucks

Unsafe company or maintenance practices include: a company’s failure to conduct inspections or perform maintenance, brake failure and tire blowouts resulting from inadequate maintenance practices, a truck company’s insufficient screening of potential drivers, a company’s hiring of drivers that are not medically fit to drive.

When Columbus truck drivers operate commercial vehicles unsafely and trucking companies turn a blind eye to the unsafe practices, it can result in permanent, life-altering injuries. Our dedicated team of commercial trucking accident attorneys at Montlick has 40 years of experience representing people like you who have suffered serious injuries in a tractor-trailer accident.

Accidents unique to tractor-trailers include jackknife collisions and carriage truck override or underride accidents. Both of these types of Columbus commercial trucking accidents are particularly dangerous for passenger vehicle occupants.

Jackknife accidents occur when the front portion of a tractor-trailer combination swings around toward the rear of the vehicle so that it resembles a folding pocketknife. These Columbus tractor-trailer accidents are caused by the cab portion of the commercial truck skidding, which causes the trailer to force the cab to spin around and face toward the rear of the vehicle. This type of accident can cause major wrecks because the commercial truck may rollover on vehicles or obstruct multiple lanes of the roadway causing a multi-car accident.

Underride or override accidents involve a passenger vehicle traveling beneath the undercarriage of a tractor-trailer because of an average fifteen inch height difference between undercarriage of a car and that of a large truck. In a Columbus underride trucking accident, a passenger vehicle slides under the undercarriage of the tractor-trailer where the passenger vehicle may be crushed or the upper portion of the vehicle may literally be ripped off the vehicle. An override accident involves a truck running over the top of a passenger vehicle because of the height differential between the vehicles. Underride and override trucking accidents frequently result in horrific accidents and life-altering injuries.

Breaking The inherent limitations of commercial trucks in handling and braking increase the risk of motorists being involved in a tractor-trailer accident on Georgia roadways. Tractor-trailer accidents account for approximately 33% of all motor vehicle-related fatalities despite the fact that these massive vehicles account for a relatively small proportion of registered vehicles.

Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country are injured in big-rig accidents each year. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveal that it is almost always the occupants of the other, smaller vehicle that suffer serious injury or die in these collisions.