Car Accidents Caused by Road Debris & Unsecured Loads

16 May Car Accidents Caused by Road Debris & Unsecured Loads

Big trucks pose many problems for smaller vehicles on the road. This is especially dangerous as it relates to unsecured loads and fallen cargo. While there are regulations in place to help prevent these types of events, they still occur. If you get involved in such accidents, be sure to protect your rights by hiring an experienced auto accident attorney.

Overview of Regulations in Texas and the U.S.

Collisions that involve 18-wheeler trucks, semi-trucks, and tankers are the cause of many of the worst catastrophic personal injury and property damage accidents in our state. Texas law allows big rigs to carry loads weighing 80,000 pounds or less and whose drivers are behind the wheel up to eleven consecutive hours. You can learn more here on getting legal help for accident cases.The truck accident lawyers based in Fresno can be of great help in this scenario.

Fortunately, there are many federal and state guidelines that control the operation and maintenance of these over-sized vehicles in an effort to ensure these transporters of heavy goods are as safe as humanly and mechanically possible. This is in an effort to help reduce potentially fatal accidents which place threats on the lives of innocent drivers and their passengers. Commercial carriers have a legal obligation to ensure the safety of the public, and this includes protecting them from accidents that result because of loose parts or loads that fall on the roadway or hit other vehicles because they are not properly secured.

When a truck is driving with an improperly secured load, it poses an extreme danger to the safety of those driving cars, motorcycles, and users of the road in general.  There is no doubt that large objects such as machinery, concrete blocks, and pipes could have disastrous results. Even small objects could cause a collision if they should crack the windshield of another vehicle or cause a driver to perform a sudden evasive maneuver.

In Texas, both the trucking company and the individual driver may be held liable if snow and ice on the top of a semi trailer dislodges and collides with another motor vehicle on the road. These “ice missiles” as they are called are extremely deadly and dangerous.

The Hazards of Overloaded Trucks

Because of the excessive weight overloaded trucks carry, they are much harder to control. This increases the potential for the following types of truck accidents:

• Rear end collisions
• Jackknife accidents
• Accidents that result from dropped loads
• Rollovers
• Failure of steering and brakes
• Blown tires

There is a weight limit of 40 tons for commercial trucks in Texas, and they are not allowed to exceed fourteen feet high and 8-1/2 feet in width. Even with the existence of these weight limits, trucking companies are able to purchase special permits that allow them to travel with oversize and overweight loads on Texas roads. Even with these permits, both truck drivers and commercial trucking companies can be held responsible for any car accidents that occur because of the oversized load.

Dangers of Unsecured Loads

The federal government has regulations in place to ensure the safe operation of all commercial vehicles that engage in interstate commerce. Within the scope of these regulations are rules for properly securing a load. All loads must be properly tied down in order to prevent the contents from moving, shifting, or falling out. Drivers must follow this rule whether the materials are within a tractor trailer or on a flatbed truck.

Responsibility for ensuring a truck complies with Department of Transportation load securing regulations is on the shoulders of the truck driver. This means the driver must make sure he has enough tie-downs and those tie-downs are constructed of the proper materials.

One important thing to keep in mind is insurance companies will make it very difficult for an injured driver to collect damages as the result of an unsecured load. They will attempt to place blame on the plaintiff with the excuse the accident would not have occurred if he or she maintained a proper following distance. These are problems an experienced auto accident attorney or personal injury attorney can overcome by proving the accident was unavoidable. Hence, hiring an attorney after a car accident is of utmost importance.