You’re traveling on an Interstate highway when suddenly a large tractor-trailer truck careens out of control and jackknifes, blocking a lane of traffic. Within seconds, a series of chain reaction crashes occurs, and your vehicle is caught up in the incident.
Even though large trucks make up a small percentage of vehicles on the road, they are disproportionately involved in serious and fatal crashes. The size and weight of larger commercial trucks have stopping limitations that smaller vehicles don’t experience, making them capable of triggering pileups. Understanding what causes these accidents can help drivers and their families know when to contact an experienced truck accident lawyer like those at Frost Law Firm, PC.
Why Large Commercial Trucks Present a Unique Multi-Vehicle Accident Risk
Commercial trucks create considerably more danger when they crash on highways. The four characteristics that increase the odds of chain reactions are:
- Weight and mass
- Longer stopping distances
- Size and blocked space
- Blind spots
A fully-loaded tractor-trailer truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Crash forces increase with mass, so trucks can easily push or override smaller vehicles, often crushing them. The sheer momentum of that force makes stopping difficult.
At 65 mph, large commercial trucks can take 525 to 600 feet to stop, about 40% to 50% longer than passenger cars, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Wet pavement, downhill grades, and worn brakes all lengthen stopping distances. Sometimes the driver’s reaction time also plays a part.
Jackknifed or overturned trailers can block several lanes simultaneously, often with little warning. This situation leaves drivers with little room to steer around the wreck. Spilled cargo or wreckage parts can add to obstructions. Each additional vehicle that stops or crashes into objects adds to the congestion.
Trucks have much larger blind spots than passenger cars, particularly on the right side. Even with extended mirrors, they face greater risks when changing lanes. Sudden moves by other motorists or sideswipes can trigger uncontrollable braking and swerving.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents That Escalate
Although mechanical failures can cause truck crashes, a lapse is usually the root cause. All lapses are dangerous, but on a crowded highway with little room for error, they can set off a chain reaction. The most common causes of escalating truck crashes are:
- Driver fatigue caused by many hours of service violations
- Distractions, such as phones, GPS, and dispatch notices, take attention away from driving
- Speeding and following too closely
- Poor vehicle maintenance that causes sudden failures
- Improper loading that raises the risk of jackknifing, rollovers, and lost loads
- Construction zones and adverse weather like fog, ice, heavy rain, and snow that reduce traction and visibility
How Truck Crashes Become Chain Reactions
Chain-reaction truck accidents don’t happen all at once; they unfold in stages. The first two happen almost simultaneously. The initial incident abruptly disrupts the normal flow of traffic, often with the truck coming to rest significantly away from the point of impact. Truck wreckage, shredded tires, spilled loads, and other debris block the road, leaving drivers little to no time to react. Some debris types make the road slick, exacerbating conditions.
Delayed driver reactions contribute to chain reactions. Drivers may have difficulty seeing the accident ahead if fog, rain, glare, curves, hills, and the like are present. Dense, heavy traffic may leave little room for drivers to maneuver if the wreck is in their lane. Late, hard braking or sudden swerving can result in skids, spin-outs, and collisions. These situations create a domino effect, forcing each subsequent driver to react even faster as the margin for error shrinks.
Secondary collisions result from delayed driver reactions when drivers cannot stop their vehicles in time. These involve running into the original truck wreckage or vehicles rear-ending one another. Some collisions can occur when cars swerve out of their original lanes. Other trucks in the traffic flow need additional distance to stop and plow into vehicles ahead of them. Passenger cars, smaller trucks, and other vehicles caught between the original accident and vehicles behind them remain caught and cannot escape.
Other hazards that can further escalate the situation involve spilled fuel, which can easily catch fire, spreading danger to vehicles not involved in the mishap. Hazardous materials spills can require the evacuation of nearby residents. Debris, unstable wreckage, and blocked lanes can slow the response of emergency vehicles. Extended road closures and investigations frequently follow.
How Liability is Determined
Multiple parties may be liable for a large truck accident. These can include the driver, trucking company, cargo loader, maintenance provider, vehicle manufacturer, and even other motorists. Driver fatigue can be difficult to prove, but an experienced truck accident lawyer will use information from electronic logging devices (ELDs), black box data, dashcam footage, maintenance records, and police reports to determine who was at fault.
Prevention and Safety on the Road
Some large truck crashes can be prevented if trucking companies follow hours-of-service rules, maintain fleets, and adopt collision-avoidance and automatic braking technology. Truck drivers need to slow down, take required rest breaks, and maintain safe distances from the vehicles in front of them to improve emergency-stopping outcomes. Other motorists can take action, too. On highways, motorists should avoid lingering in trucks’ blind spots, leave extra space around trucks, and slow down when they see congestion ahead.
Being Proactive About Large Truck Mishaps
Understanding how large truck accidents happen can help drivers prepare for what lies ahead if they become involved in a chain-reaction incident. Large trucks are especially prone to multi-vehicle pileups, but other drivers also share responsibility for prevention. Always drive defensively around trucks, but if you’re involved in a multi-vehicle accident, get medical care and consider retaining an attorney.
