Personal Injury Law – Trucking Accident Attorney
The very nature of large commercial trucks lends itself to serious accidents. There are many types of trucking accidents and many ways in which they can occur. If you have been injured in a trucking accident or have lost a loved one in a truck accident, you will hear many references to the specific type of accident in which you or your loved one was involved, and you may not be familiar with all of these terms and what they really mean.
Jackknife
A jackknife trucking accident is one of the most well-known types of trucking accidents. In a jackknife accident, the trailer passes the cab of the truck. This happens when the cab stops or slows down faster than the trailer can stop or slow down. A jackknife can easily escalate into a rollover.
Defective braking systems are a common cause of jackknifing. Driver error can also result in jackknifing.
When a jackknife trucking accident does not turn into a rollover, it can still cause a multi-car pileup. The trailer may also swipe many vehicles as it swings around to the side.
Rollover
When any kind of vehicle rolls, it can cause severe injuries and death. When a big rig rolls, it can take out numerous vehicles in its path, and cause a multi-car pileup in its wake. Rollover accidents can be caused by:
Defective roadways
Tire failure
“Slosh effect” in tanker trucks
Imbalanced loads
Brake failure
Carelessness or inattention by the driver, “Driver Error”
Turning Accidents
Semi tractor-trailer trucks must make very wide turns because they are so long. When they make a right-hand turn, they have to swing out to 
the justify first. When they do that, they leave an opening to their right and sometimes other drivers pull into that open space. Cars that enter that space can easily be crushed as the truck makes its turn. Truck drivers must proceed slowly and carefully when making any type of turn and should be alert for the possibility that car drivers may not anticipate the pathway that the truck will take. Trucks, due to their sheer size and weight, are much more dangerous than other vehicles. With greater danger comes greater responsibility, and drivers must be trained and alert and must use caution at all times.
Rear-End Collisions
Big commercial trucks require more stopping distance than an average passenger vehicle. If a commercial truck driver follows a car too closely, the truck can easily rear-end that car. Truck drivers must maintain a safe following distance and should not, under any circumstances, drive faster than prudent under the existing conditions. On the other hand, careless drivers who cut off big trucks can also cause these rear-end collisions. Such drivers can also cause other types of trucking accidents when truck drivers attempt to avoid a rear-end collision.
Underride
The underride accident is the most gruesome and deadly type of trucking accident. Just as the term implies, it happens when a car passes under the trailer of a big truck, shearing off or crushing the occupant space of the vehicle. Underride accidents may result in:
Death
Decapitation
Dismemberment
Amputation
If you have been injured or a loved one has been injured or killed in a trucking accident, please contact our trucking accident lawyers today. We handle trucking accident cases on a contingency fee basis.
Our firm charges a reasonable percentage of the recovery if we win the case or obtain a settlement. If there is no recovery, you will not owe us an attorney’s fee. If we represent you in a truck accident case, we will also advance all court costs and other expenses necessary to pursue the case. If we obtain a recovery, we will be reimbursed for the advanced expenses from the recovery, but if there is no recovery, you will not owe us anything for the expenses or for attorney’s fees.
Let us review your case confidentially without charge or obligation.