What Causes Nashville Truck Accidents?

WHAT CAUSES TRUCK ACCIDENTS IN TENNESSEE

Anyone who regularly drives will see commercial trucks out on Nashville roads, transporting cargo from one location to another. Most truck drivers transport commodities throughout the nation, which is crucial to our economy.

However, one of the several distinct forms of truck accidents may occur if the driver or another person is careless on the road. Driver error is the number one cause of a car accident.

Truck collisions are often highly dangerous, resulting in major (or even fatal) serious injuries and significant property damage. It is your best advantage to get in touch with a truck accident attorney as soon as possible if you were harmed in one of the truck accidents listed below.

Call us at 629-257-8558 or email to arrange a FREE consultation with one of our knowledgeable and sympathetic attorneys at Warrior Truck Accident Attorneys.

12 MOST COMMON TYPES OF TRUCK ACCIDENTS & COMMON CAUSES

There are several ways in which semi truck accidents may happen. Because semis and tractor-trailers are so massive, a collision with one may cause catastrophic injuries and severe damage. When there is a collision between two passenger cars, accidents may also occur in ways that are less likely to occur.

Here are some typical commercial truck accidents kinds we see while handling truck accident cases.

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1. ROLLOVER ACCIDENTS

If the driver loses control, the truck may slip and start to roll over. This may be exceedingly risky for any automobiles adjacent to or past the truck. A Nashville car accident may be caused by any of the following factors.

Truck rollovers may occur as a result of things like:

●        Driving too quickly

●        Too quickly negotiating a curve

●        Stumbling over a curb

●        Slamming against another roadside item

●        After veering off the road, overcorrecting

●        Steep slopes that rise or fall

Truck drivers must exercise extreme caution by being aware of their vehicle’s limitations, adhering to the commercial truck speed limit, and keeping an eye out for any dangers that might result in rollovers.

2. JACKKNIFE ACCIDENTS

When a big truck starts to fold in half, the cab and the trailer make a 90-degree angle. This is known as jackknifing. Jackknifing is often caused by abrupt braking, and it has the potential to be fatal.

A truck that jackknifes may wander into lanes of traffic where other moving cars are. Additionally, it can close off a section of the road, which might cause more collisions.

3. WIDE TURN OR “SQUEEZE PLAY” ACCIDENTS

Commercially licensed drivers often need to lean slightly to the left to have adequate room for a right turn. Truck drivers must be mindful of the cars behind them and to their right before doing this.

A passenger vehicle may mistakenly believe a truck is merging into the left lane if a truck driver does not pay close attention before turning right. As a result, the driver may attempt to pass the truck on the right and end up “stuck” or “squeezed” between the front and rear of the truck.

4. UNDERRIDE ACCIDENTS

Motorcycles and compact cars are particularly vulnerable to terrifying underride incidents. Trucks may crash with and trap automobiles behind them beneath the rear of the trailer if they stop too suddenly and are unprepared. Unsurprisingly, truck accidents involving underride occurrences are among the worst.

5. T-BONE ACCIDENTS

T-bone collisions occur when one motorist fails to yield at an intersection or runs a red light, resulting in the side of one commercial vehicle colliding with the side of another and forming a “T” shape.

T-bone collisions may occur with any kind of vehicle, but trucks are particularly dangerous when they do. Truckers need to be cautious not to blow through red lights. Otherwise, their size and length make them more likely to be involved in t-bone crashes.

6. BLIND SPOT ACCIDENTS

The driver must be aware of the blind areas in any commercial vehicle. Trucks have larger blind zones than other vehicles. This is why some of the blind zones on the sides and back of commercial vehicles are sometimes called “No Man’s Land.” In the truck’s blind zones, drivers are likelier to be struck, pushed off the road, or possibly crash.

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7. TRUCK TIRE BLOWOUTS

Blowouts may occur if truck drivers are not vigilant about monitoring their tires before they resume driving. When a truck tire blows out, it may push the vehicle in directions that greatly increase the danger of collision with other vehicles.

We are partnered with the top tire defect law firm in the country. A tire blowout is always the fault of someone else. They often have deadly consequences.

8. REAR-END TRUCK ACCIDENTS

Rear-end crashes between any two cars at any moment are possible. Even at modest speeds, rear-end collisions involving huge vehicles may be far more dangerous. High speeds are often to blame for rear end truck accidents.

9. HEAD-ON TRUCK ACCIDENTS

Commercial truck head-on crashes with other vehicles, particularly ones considerably smaller than the truck, may be very severe and lethal.

10. BRAKE FAILURE ACCIDENTS

Due to the strict maintenance requirements for trucks, brake failure is uncommon, although it can happen. Poor maintenance, incorrect installation, outdated brakes, overheating from abrupt high-speed stops, or excessive usage may all contribute to truck brake failure. Multiple parties may be responsible if braking failure results in a truck collision.

To reduce the danger of large truck accidents and brake damage, truck drivers should also train how to properly utilize their brakes. The trucking firm that hired the driver may also be liable if they were not adequately trained to brake.

11. SPILLED CARGO ACCIDENTS

Trucks often transport a lot of stuff. The cargo might fall off the automobile and cause major collisions with other vehicles if it is not loaded and secured properly.

Poor cargo loading may be to blame for your Nashville truck accident. We will investigate to determine if improper cargo loading was to blame.

12. TRUCK DRIVER DUI ACCIDENTS

In Tennessee, a commercial truck driver cannot operate their vehicle with 0.04% or higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in their system. Commercial drivers are subject to significantly more severe DUI rules than drivers of passenger cars. Nevertheless, some truck drivers continue to decide to drive after drinking.

The repercussions of a truck driver operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol may be disastrous. State and federal regulations dictate the rules a truck driver and the trucking companies must follow.

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TALK TO A TRUCK ACCIDENT LAWYER IN TENNESSEE FOR FREE TODAY

If you were damaged in a truck accident of any kind, or if you lost a loved one, you should not have to foot the bill for someone else’s negligence. Let us take it to the trucking company. They will answer for crashes involving large trucks.

We will look to determine if other drivers were at-fault. An accident involving passenger car drivers deserves a compassionate and skilled legal team. We will investigate the truck caused accident. This can include looking into the traffic situation all the way into federal law that may have not been follow.

At Warrior Truck Accident Attorneys, we can look into the collision, identify the at-fault party, and support you in advocating for your legal entitlement to compensation.

Over the last 20 years, we have provided just that for many victims of many truck accidents.

Get in contact with us immediately for a no-obligation discussion about the accident and our services. Contact us online or over the phone at 629-257-8558 to begin your FREE consultation.

Both Nashville’s economy and residents’ daily lives depend heavily on trucks. Anywhere you go in Nashville, trucks of various sizes, shapes, and functions are a given.

Cargo containers holding a variety of commodities, materials, and petrochemical products are picked up and dropped off by trucks as they enter and exit Nashville. Tractor-trailers travel along Nashville’s interstates either passing through on their route to distant destinations or exiting to transport their goods to nearby companies.

Smaller trucks make their way through Nashville neighborhoods like Sharpstown, Woodland Heights, and Pecan Park while cleaning up trash, delivering online orders to our doorsteps, and stocking local stores’ shelves.

Unfortunately, the convenience and commerce we rely on delivery trucks come at a price: trucking accidents. Every year, accidents involving big and small vehicles cause internal injuries and deaths among Nashvillians.

That does not imply, however, that we must accept that expense as inevitable. We can strive to lower the frequency of truck accidents in Nashville if we learn more about what factors contribute to them and are cognizant of the features of Nashville’s roads and driving culture that put us, our loved ones, our friends, and our neighbors at risk of severe injury in a truck event.

In this blog post, we will examine the factors that lead to truck accidents in Nashville to better understand why they occur and how we can reduce their negative effects on our communities and families.

NASHVILLE TRUCK ACCIDENTS: WHAT THE DATA SAYS

Without first determining the severity of the issue, we cannot address trucking accidents in Nashville. We can evaluate the current issues because of the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) yearly collision reports and searches in the large truck Crash Records Information System (CRIS) database.

THE NUMBERS

Davidson County saw 4,915 commercial motor vehicle (CMV) collisions in the most recent year, which resulted in 46 deaths, 121 severe injuries, 450 non-incapacitating injuries, and 1,333 suspected injuries, according to TDOT annual reporting statistics.

According to a CRIS data search, at least 850 CMV collisions in Nashville that year resulted in spinal cord injuries or deaths and featured vehicles of all sizes and shapes, including delivery vans, box trucks, and tractor-trailers.

THE HOT SPOTS

We also identified hot spots on Nashville-area roadways where vehicles stand an exceptionally high chance of being engaged in a truck collision by graphing CRIS data for fatal and injury-related truck crashes in Nashville throughout the most recent reporting year.

Anyone who has lately traveled in Nashville would agree that multi-lane highway segments, particularly I-65, are the worst locations for heavy truck accidents. Every day of the week, Nashville’s roadways see almost nonstop, intense traffic.

Nevertheless, it would be dangerous to believe that Nashville’s roadways would secure you from the possibility of truck accidents. You can hardly go more than a few yards in Nashville without passing a road where a truck accident has happened within the last year or two.

Even the most peaceful parts of Nashville have had truck accidents that have wounded or killed pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users.

THE HEAVY TOLL

Nashville truck accidents are the subject of our article because they directly affect the lives of the victims, their families, and the communities in which they occur. As we said above, numerous fatalities are caused by truck accidents each year in and around Nashville. Even worse, that horrific toll hardly scratches the surface of the devastation caused by truck accidents to Nashvillians.

Those who are fortunate enough to escape a collision may nonetheless have severe or irreversible injuries like:

●        Traumatic encephalopathy

●        Spinal cord damage

●        Limbs and appendages crushed

●        Amputations due to trauma or other medical conditions

●        Burns

●        Toxicity-related illness and cargo spillage

●        Potentially fatal internal wounds

●        Open sores

●        Neck injuries and back pain

●        Orthopedic harm and broken bones

The list is endless. Truck accidents in Nashville may cause just about every serious injury, leaving victims and their loved ones in excruciating emotional distress, physical pain, and impairment.

That is not all, either. Additionally, Nashville companies and local households suffer severe financial losses from truck accidents. According to TDOT estimates, Tennessee residents, companies, and the government suffer annual economic losses of $43 billion from motor vehicle accidents, including truck accidents.

Injuries from trucking accidents cause significant, unforeseen bills and income loss for victims. They often open the door to ruinous debt from medical costs.

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LET’S EXAMINE CAUSES OF TRUCK ACCIDENTS IN NASHVILLE

We know that truck accidents often occur in Nashville and are expensive for locals, companies, and the community. What can we do to deal with them, then?

To start, one must comprehend how they occur. Once again, we rely on CRIS data to inform our understanding of the situation.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, an analysis of the reasons given for truck accidents in Nashville in the last year reveals that a large percentage of them include some kind of human mistake.

Many such mistakes are caused by how a truck is operated or how other vehicles that share the road with semi trucks are operated. Some include mistakes made by mechanics, manufacturers, and other parties early in the events resulting in a crash.

The following are some noteworthy factors that we identified in the CRIS data as contributing to truck accidents in Nashville (as well as a couple that we did not identify but that we are certain contributed).

UNSAFE LANE CHANGES, DEPARTURES, AND MERGES

A truck is the 800-pound gorilla of the highway. If they want to go where they want to go, everyone else has to make room for them.

However, there is hardly much space for any car, much less a huge truck, on a congested Nashville freeway. Unsafe lane changes, drifting, or merging by flatbed trucks on surrounding roads with heavy traffic may force smaller vehicles off the road, force them to do dangerous evasive maneuvers that might cause crashes, or even run them over.

Why do truckers intentionally put their vehicles in harm’s way? When a merging lane ends, and they are forced to squeeze into a travel lane, they sometimes cannot escape it. Most truck accidents are the result of human error, including drivers not keeping an eye out for other vehicles in their blind spots or being too tired or impaired to drive safely.

IMPROPER TURNS AND UNSAFE BACKING

However, not all accidents on Nashville’s roads are caused by trucks seeking more space. Additionally, its drivers must be able to navigate a vehicle through rather small places. Truck accidents occur when drivers do not direct their rigs with the awkward size of a rig in mind. For instance, turning left or right at a junction might be difficult for truck drivers.

A wide berth is required when a truck is making a turn. If you turn too quickly, you risk cutting the corner and running over the curb, sidewalk, front yard, and any nearby traffic lanes. If you take it too wide at a crowded junction, you risk crushing a smaller car.

Likewise, with backing up. Truck drivers go blindly in reverse unless they have backup cameras fitted in their vehicles (most of them don’t). They only have their side mirrors to direct them, but even then, those mirrors have sizable blind areas. If you back up carelessly, you risk hitting anything fixed, a car, or even someone.

UNSAFE SPEEDS

You know how quickly a large rig can go when it has space to move if you have seen one on a deserted section of the I-40 in West Tennessee. Sharing a road with a big truck moving at 70 or more miles per hour is terrifying.

If morning dew or a recent rain shower has rendered the road surface slippery, the truck requires hundreds of yards to come to a controlled emergency stop, and that distance expands.

When a truck traveling at maximum speed on a highway comes upon a sudden delay or impediment and cannot stop in time to prevent the collision, it may cause deadly rear-end crashes. Truck drivers must obey posted speed limits.

However, Nashville drivers of all types run the danger of being involved in collisions. As many of us know, highway speed on a busy section of I-65 may be as low as 40 MPH. However, even at that reduced speed, a truck still requires much more space than a passenger car to slow down and prevent a collision.

Sharp highway bends and on-and-off ramps are particularly challenging for trucks to drive through at any speed faster than a snail’s pace. Trucks can easily roll over if the driver takes a turn too quickly because of the vehicle’s high center of gravity.

TRUCK EQUIPMENT DEFECTS AND FAILURES

Tons of goods are transported by trucks across great distances. They suffer a terrible pounding. Owners and operators must maintain their fleet safely and perform regular maintenance and upkeep on their equipment. A truck failure at the wrong time on a Nashville road might result in a collision!

Truck parts that might have hazardous flaws or excessive wear and tear include:

●        Tires

●        Hydraulics, truck-trailer connections

●        Brakes

●        Cameras, mirrors, and other safety equipment

●        Stabilizers and load tie-downs

Unfortunately, maintaining trucks and trailers sometimes requires a leap of faith. Trailers and cargo created, owned, and operated by other firms are connected to trucks made, owned, and operated by other businesses.

The safety and dependability of a full rig may be compromised if even one entity is negligent in the design, construction, or maintenance of safe equipment, endangering not only the trucker but also Nashville’s general driving public.

TRUCKER FATIGUE

Do you want to hear a terrifying story? Recently, the FMCSA questioned long-haul truck drivers and drivers of tanker trucks better understand their experiences on the road. The results showed that over two-thirds of them reported feeling sleepy at the thought of driving when exhausted!

Not just that.

●        On most or all of their trips, around one in five truck drivers reported feeling exhausted.

●        52.1% of truck drivers and 12.5% of those who said they sometimes felt heavy eyelids while driving reported doing so.

●        53.9% sometimes felt sleepy while driving, while 11.1% often did so.

●        43.4% sometimes had difficulty staying awake while driving, while 8.4% often did so.

●        6.4% and 37.9% reported regular and sporadic sleep difficulties.

These results were almost as predictable as they were unsettling. Tractor trailer drivers put in a lot of overtime and often drive in the morning and late at night when their bodies tell them to sleep.

Additionally, the health of truck drivers is often poor (obesity is a big issue), and they typically lack health insurance (which means their health problems go largely unaddressed.) Sleep quantity and quality are impacted by trucker health. The majority of the study’s participants said they slept too little the night before their runs.

Nashville truck accidents may easily result from fatigue, which is very hazardous. Studies have shown that drivers’ performance begins to decline to the same degree after 18 hours without sleep as it does after 24 hours of sleep deprivation, making it illegal for truck drivers to operate their vehicles when above the legal limit for BAC.

Federal and state hours-of-service laws aim to reduce trucker tiredness by imposing time limits on how much time they may spend driving. But such rules are a Band-Aid covering a bullet wound. Truck drivers continue to operate their vehicles when fatigued, endangering both themselves and other motorists.

Several truck accidents may happen on the road, and those that include other cars and people often have the potential to be fatal crashes. In 2017, there were roughly 4,700 fatal and injury accidents involving heavy trucks, as reported by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Large trucks pose a greater risk to nearby motorists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and cyclists due to their size, weight, and dimensions.

Unlike drivers of passenger vehicles, many truck drivers have deadlines for reaching their destinations. They may exceed the federally permitted maximum of up to 11 continuous driving hours to achieve these deadlines.

In fact, between 2001 and 2003, driving while tired was a factor in more than one in ten collisions involving heavy trucks that resulted in severe or fatal injuries.

One of the several causes of truck accidents, which can involve multiple contributing elements, is fatigued driving. A lawyer can help you determine fault and seek damages after a truck accident.

TYPES OF COLLISIONS IN TRUCK ACCIDENTS

When compared to cars, SUVs, and compact trucks, heavy trucks are more dangerous in an accident because they can weigh up to 30 times as much as smaller vehicles.

Additionally, trucks put other vehicles in their route in danger of accident by needing 20% to 40% extra space to stop completely. In all forms of truck accidents, large trucks may result in catastrophic or fatal injuries, including:

●        Head-on collisions

●        Rear-end collisions

●        Rollovers

●        T-bone collisions or collisions at a perpendicular angle

●        Accidents caused by jackknifing, in which the trailer swings and hits other cars

●        Cars riding beneath trucks in underride collisions

●        Accidents brought on by unplanned events, such as flat tires and cargo spills

Large trucks often cause multi-vehicle accidents because of the considerable area they occupy on the road, potentially hurting more people.

DRIVER BEHAVIORS THAT CAN CAUSE TRUCK ACCIDENTS

Numerous factors, including poor vehicle maintenance, unanticipated risks, and other circumstances over which a truck driver has no control, may cause accidents.

However, the majority of accidents involve human mistakes. This covers truck accidents, which may be caused by certain driver actions, like:

●        Driving while intoxicated or under the influence of medicine or another substance

●        Distracted driving

●        Improper lane changes or turns

●        Speeding

●        Driving without paying attention to the traffic, poor weather conditions, or road conditions

●        Failure to deliver

●        Driving erratically

If the truck driver was negligent and you were injured in a trucking accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

PEOPLE AND VEHICLES INVOLVED IN TRUCK ACCIDENTS

More often than truck occupants, passengers in passenger vehicles suffer fatal injuries in truck accidents. The unfortunate result is that persons not even in a car to cushion the impact are at a higher risk of suffering severe or fatal injuries in a truck collision.

In major truck collisions, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcycle riders may be impacted. Other crashes involving huge trucks include those with:

●        Scooters

●        Ridesharing vehicles

●        Buses

●        Tractors

A lawyer can assist you in determining if you have a case, regardless of the circumstances that led to the catastrophic or fatal injuries you or a loved one sustained.

PURSUING COMPENSATION FOR YOUR TRUCK ACCIDENT CASE

Large truck accidents often result in injuries, including those that are psychologically and emotionally damaging. Unfortunately, many victims also suffer fatal injuries, and their families may seek redress and justice.

Your state’s insurance rules, the magnitude of your losses, and the circumstances surrounding the accident will all impact the forms of compensation you may be eligible for. A lawyer may assist you in determining if you are eligible for financial awards, which may include reimbursement for:

• Urgent medical expenses and continuing healthcare expenditures for the injury’s treatment.

• medical transportation costs

• medication and medical supplies

• Future Medical Attention

• lost income due to time out from job

• loss of future earnings if the accident left you disabled or if you lost a loved one who supported you financially

• Death of a loved one or emotional, physical, and mental stress

• Expenses for the funeral and burial of a loved one who perished in the accident

GET HELP FROM A LAWYER TODAY

If a truck accident left you or a loved one with significant or fatal injuries, you do not have to navigate the legal system alone.

Our lawyers may assist by taking control of your case, looking into the incident, managing all interactions with insurance providers, and fighting for the reimbursement you are entitled to.

Unless we successfully get you a financial recovery, you owe us nothing. To discuss your case with our experts, call Warrior Truck Accident Attorneys at 629-257-8558.

NO MATTER THE CAUSE OF A NASHVILLE TRUCK ACCIDENT, VICTIMS HAVE RIGHTS

Contact a knowledgeable truck accident injury attorney immediately for a free consultation to learn more about your legal options if you were hurt in a truck collision in the Nashville area.