Motorists in the Lakeway area and other parts of East Tennessee are customarily careful and conscientious when they pull out into traffic.
Most drivers are. They appreciate that the state’s varied roadways – ranging widely from rural byways to complex and fast-moving freeways and interstate corridors – demand constant attention and vigilance from those who use them. The downsides of behind-the-wheel inattentiveness and other reckless driving behaviors are instant and obvious.
And, sadly, sometimes fatal.
Indeed, adverse fallout from negligence-tied motor vehicle accidents often features catastrophic injury and death for innocent victims.
Serious crashes often yield the same stark conclusion for investigators and safety regulators.
That is this: Accident outcomes are invariably different and often far more dire in instances where a large truck is involved. The reasons for that are both clear and multiple.
Why crashes involving trucks are especially concerning
The post header immediately above is not meant to minimize the seriousness and potentially adverse repercussions of any crash that does not involve a truck. It merely seeks to stress that accidents involving big commercial trucks are routinely linked with outcomes that are acutely severe in nature. Here are some catalysts that play a part in that:
- Truck driver fatigue
- Tight scheduling requirements that unduly pressure truckers
- Driver judgment compromised by alcohol/drug use
- Large trucks’ limited visibility re surrounding traffic
- Big rigs’ huge size and girth that results in instability and longer stopping distances
And, of course, there is this: Tractor-trailers, semis and assorted 18-wheel conveyances can weigh scores of thousands of pounds. Impact featuring such magnitude often and unsurprisingly breeds devastating results.
Acting purposely in the wake of a truck crash causing injury
Events often happen quickly in the aftermath of an injury-tied truck accident. A trucker’s employer will be quick to formulate its own version of the “facts,” intending to dampen accountability and minimize or erase liability.
Moreover, an insurance company – sometimes a consortium of insurers – will employ an accident investigation team. Its members might well spin a version of truth that calls into question driver and/or company negligence and sometimes even seeks to assign blame to an injured claimant (or deceased accident victim in the case of a wrongful death lawsuit).
Time is of the essence for an individual injured in a truck accident. Timely and proven input from an experienced and empathetic personal injury legal team can make a material difference in a case outcome.
Accountability matters. So too does the deterrence of future wrongdoing and the ability of accident victims and their families to secure a meaningful legal remedy marked by maximum compensation.
