How Safe Is It to Share the Road with Tractor Trailer Trucks?

In 2012, the occupants of other vehicles accounted for 73 percent of the fatalities in accidents involving large trucks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Anytime a motor vehicle accident involves a large commercial truck, there is the potential for widespread destruction. For that reason, truck drivers, companies and manufacturers must be extremely diligent as far as safety is concerned, because one mistake on their part could lead to deadly consequences for the driver and/or one or several other motorists.

On July 20, a University of Florida student was killed when the vehicle she was in was hit by a tractor-trailer truck. According to The Independent Florida Alligator, the accident happened after midnight on the Florida Turnpike near Wildwood.

The victim was driving a Ford Explorer with four other friends en route to Orlando to visit one of their friends. Reportedly, at mile marker 304, the tractor-trailer truck, which was in the right lane, began to merge into the left lane, in which the Explorer was already traveling.

“We swerved so that it wouldn’t hit us,” said one of the victim’s friends. “The car fishtailed, and then it started to flip.”

After the Ford flipped nearly three times, it came to rest on its roof in the right lane. At that point, all the passengers were able to exit the vehicle, but it was too late before they realized the driver had not gotten out with them.

By the time the passengers noticed the driver’s absence, another tractor-trailer truck had struck the Explorer on the driver’s side. Once first responders arrived, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Did a Truck Driver Cause My Wreck?

When truck drivers neglect their duties, it can have devastating results for them and anyone they are sharing the road with at the time.

To learn more about truck accident lawsuits or to schedule a free consultation, call us today.

Colson Hicks Eidson – Injury Attorneys

Source: http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_720d29f0-1147-11e4-b542-001a4bcf887a.html