Whether bad driving, poor maintenance, distracted driving, lack of sleep or lack of training in emergency situations, these Texas truck crashes in the last few months were preventable. A good personal injury lawyer can help stop these from happening and help the victims and their families recover their damages.
Blowout Causes Fatal Crash
Take, for example, the crash of an 18-wheeler in Hill County last month. Barreling down a rural stretch on Texas Highway 31 according to KWTX, the young driver lost control of his vehicle after a blowout, causing the truck to leave the roadway and overturn. The tires were old. Tragically, the 26-year-old driver died at the scene.
Why transportation companies don’t undertake pre-trip inspections and conduct hands-on training for their employees is a mystery. If they had prepared their trucks and employees for such situations, the young man might still be alive.
Dump Truck Crashes into Train, Killing Two and Injuring 11
An Arlington-area crash left a dump truck driver and a passenger dead after it maneuvered around the crossing arms, risking both lives to save a few seconds, Dallas News reports. Police report that the passenger train was traveling well under its speed limit when the crash occurred.
Unfortunately with a lot of 18-wheeler and other commercial vehicle crashes, this is not uncommon. The haste to get from one job to another under employer or customer pressure causes far too many of these “accidents.”
Like the blowout, this one was avoidable. Customers and employers who demand unsafe speed from their drivers at the risk of public safety need to reassess their priorities.
Reduce Speed-Induced Truck Crashes with Mandatory Safety Protocols
Our law firm only handles car, truck, 18-wheeler, and motorcycle crash cases and we have represented many people and their families after serious injuries or loss of life from speed-caused crashes.
Pizza companies have dropped their requirement for drivers to prioritize speed over safety. Unfortunately, it took a lawsuit to get there.
Companies who use large vehicles to deliver goods and services have an even larger obligation to ensure that their drivers prioritize safety rather than time limits. After all, their vehicles can cause even greater damage due to their size.
Reduce Road Hazard Accidents with Better Training
Lack of preparation for road hazards on their employers’ part has spurred experienced truckers themselves to post training videos and articles for their colleagues, hoping that their advice will help save lives.
In the trucking industry journal CDLLife.com, trucker Jennifer Black Cordero, having recently survived a blowout herself, provided these tips:
- Keep a cool head—don’t panic
- Make sure you get cruise control turned off
- Don’t hit the brakes
- Step into the accelerator
- Play “what if”
Truckers who have had the proper training to fight their instincts to hit the brakes and stay off the fuel pedal have a shot to survive in such a situation. Even without formal training, articles like this one can make up for the lack of hands-on training.
Her “what if” scenario is especially important. Drivers can use these mental exercises to go over in their minds what they would do in case a car cuts them off or spins out, if a deer or other animal runs across the road, in case they lose traction on ice or on a rainy day, or if their tire blows.
Truckers can take this one step further in their spare time by combining these mental exercises with muscle memory by imitating the motions they will need to go through to compensate during these emergencies.
We Can Help You
As a law firm who only represents the victims in crashes like these, it frustrates us to see the companies making the same mistakes over and over again, despite numerous losses of life and serious injuries. Our firm will hold companies’ feet to the fire for these completely preventable tragedies.
If you have suffered an injury in a truck accident, please contact us at Berenson Law.