Truck drivers depend on their extensive training to keep the roadways they travel safe in spite of their imposing presence. Trucking accidents are often associated with high speeds and pile ups, but even at low speeds on city streets these massive vehicles are a threat to passenger cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians.
When a truck driver attempts to make a tight right turn, they often have to move a lane over to the left to give themselves enough room to turn right. Opening up that space on their right side sometimes inadvertently invites other drivers or pedestrians into the dangerous void that closes in on them as the truck proceeds to turn right.
The ability to maneuver a tractor trailer is a feat that takes training and patience. It also takes cooperation from the surrounding vehicles and passersby. A truck driver making a right turn in city traffic must calculate the angle of the truck as well as all people, cars, and obstructions in the vicinity.
Sometimes those calculations are off. Sometimes the truck driver forgets some part of the protocol, or overlooks a safety procedure, or misses the appearance of a person or other small vehicle that emerges too late into view. These oversights can be catastrophic.
Safety Protocols
Truck drivers undergo extensive training on the proper way to make a right turn. Some of the protocols for this task include properly signaling a right turn, keeping tabs on all surrounding traffic and obstructions, accounting for blind spots, and blocking the right lane with the tail-end of the truck as the truck moves into the adjacent left lane for clearance to make the turn.
Types of Right-Turn Crashes
When a car is caught by a right-turning tractor trailer, the car can be pushed against the curb or other fixture or crushed under the trailer as the turn proceeds. Right turn accidents may also involve a front-end collision as the truck veers back to the right after making space intended for the truck, but utilized by an impatient or oblivious neighboring driver.
Liability: Who is to Blame?
As common as these types of accidents are, truck drivers are trained to avoid them. The trucker is obligated to operate their vehicle with a high level of skill and patience. Yet nearby drivers, intentionally or not, challenge truckers to put their training to the test. When patience on both sides prevails, the result is a safe roadway. But when a wreck happens, who is to blame?
Unfortunately, trucking companies will try to avoid liability by putting the blame on the victim. The big trucking outfits have teams of lawyers on hand to help them avoid having to pay damages to victims harmed in accidents involving their trucks. Injured accident victims need someone on their side to represent their interests.
Huntsville Truck Accident Lawyers at Hodges Trial Lawyers, P.C. Represent Those Injured in Wide-Turn Truck Accidents
If you have been injured in a wide-turn truck accident, the Huntsville truck accident lawyers at Hodges Trial Lawyers, P.C. can help you recover compensation for your pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical bills. Call our Huntsville, Alabama office at 256-539-3110 or 888-539-3110 or contact us online to set up a free consultation. We proudly represent injured accident victims and their families throughout North Alabama, including those in Madison County, Limestone County, Marshall County, Jackson County, Morgan County, and Lauderdale County.