According to the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 4,445 accidents involving large trucks occurred in 2017, resulting in 5,055 fatalities – an eight percent increase from the previous year. In Maryland, 48 people died in accidents involving commercial trucks in 2017.

Causes of Truck Accidents

Truck accidents are often caused by driver error, which makes many of them preventable. Here are some common causes of collisions involving large commercial trucks:

• Speeding. If you’ve ever checked your rearview mirror and seen a large trucking bearing down on you, you have two choices: brace for the impact or swerve out of the way, both of which can lead to serious accidents.
• Driver fatigue. Trucking can be a high-pressure job involving long distances and tight deadlines. Sometimes drivers exceed federal Hours of Service rules to meet unrealistic deadlines, resulting in not enough sleep, loss of concentration, and slower reaction times, which often lead to accidents.
• Distracted driving. Driving for long periods of time can be boring, which increases the temptation to text, check email, or use alcohol or drugs, which diverts a driver’s attention away from where it should be – on the road.
• Insufficient training was cited by 38 percent of the truckers who participated in a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who said they received inadequate training (or none at all) when they started their job.

Truck Accident Injuries

Due to the extreme size and weight of commercial trucks, a collision with one frequently results in extremely serious injury or death. Here are some of the catastrophic injuries that can result from a collision with a large truck:

• Neck and back injuries. When colliding with a large truck, the spinal cord often sustains serious trauma to the neck and back. The sudden impact causes an accident victim’s head to jerk forward and then backward, tearing muscles and tendons in the neck and resulting in an injury known as whiplash. The pain of whiplash may be immediate or take hours or days to manifest.
• Spinal cord injuries. Acute spinal cord injuries (SCIs) happen at specific sites and cause severe pain. A spinal cord injury can result in partial, temporary, or complete paralysis, can involve years of medical treatment, and can even result in permanent disability.
• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, can adversely affect a person’s cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and physical functioning. Those sustaining TBI frequently exhibit certain symptoms – loss of consciousness, head and neck pain, nausea or vomiting, seizures, slurred speech, loss of coordination, and increased confusion, agitation, or restlessness.
• Disfigurement. Due to the force of the impact, those injured in truck accidents are at risk for disfigurement, which often causes great physical and emotional distress and will require extensive and ongoing medical treatment.
• Severe burns. When a car collides with a commercial truck, more damage upon impact often results. There is also a greater risk that fuel tanks will rupture, causing a fire that will quickly engulf the vehicles involved and lead to painful, severe burns.

At Collins Legal Group, LLC, we help those gravely injured in commercial truck accidents obtain fair compensation for their losses. Were you injured in a collision with a large truck? Call us at 410-462-4529 to set up your free initial consultation with a skilled attorney today.