Any crash between two or more vehicles can lead to expensive vehicle damage and injuries to the people in the vehicles. However, certain kinds of crashes have the potential to be far worse than others. A low-speed collision between two small vehicles will likely only cause minor property damage. A high-speed collision between vehicles of vastly different sizes could be catastrophic.
A collision between a passenger vehicle and a commercial truck could leave the people in the passenger vehicle hospitalized. Sometimes, these kinds of crashes are fatal. The chances are good that the smaller vehicle will suffer extensive damage and may even be a total loss.
There are numerous causes of such collisions, including mistakes by either driver. However, in a small but significant percentage of commercial truck crashes, it may be the transportation company or its client to blame. Why are trucking companies sometimes at fault for commercial crashes?
They don’t invest enough in their vehicles
Commercial trucks are on the road for eight or 10 hours straight, sometimes longer. These massive vehicles are already subject to special licensing requirements because of their size-based limitations. When a company doesn’t properly maintain the vehicles and inspect them after every run, they increase the risk of something with the vehicle going wrong and causing a crash.
Issues with the vehicle, including maintenance oversights, our responsible for roughly 10% of the crashes caused by commercial trucks. Blown tires and bad brakes are examples of maintenance issues that a company could have prevented.
They don’t load the vehicle properly or communicate with the driver
The second reason the company could be to blame could also extend to the clients that hire the transportation business. When a company doesn’t load a truck properly, they increase the possibility of the driver losing control and causing a crash.
Both the transportation company that employs the trucker and their clients could commit this kind of mistake. Preventable crashes could also occur when a driver doesn’t know about certain contents, like liquids, in the trailer they will haul. If they don’t know to adjust their driving, they might make decisions that lead to the loss of control over the vehicle.
Realizing that a business can cause a commercial truck crash can help you seek compensation from that business.