Does The Average Louisiana Truck Driver Know How To Avoid a Rollover?

The answer might seem obvious. A truck driver who doesn't know how to prevent a rollover is probably not a truck driver anymore or didn't survive to tell the story. It is, however, legitimate to ask the question, because most devastating 18-wheeler rollovers, in Louisiana and elsewhere, take the driver by surprise.

Whereas most qualified truck drivers will know how to prevent their tractor-trailer from tipping over under normal driving conditions, inexperienced drivers are often wrong-footed by something they had not anticipated like an unusually top-heavy load, a steep curve, or a collapsed suspension. What are some of the factors contributing to large truck rollovers?

Driver factors:

• Excessive speed entering curve
• Truck steered into soft shoulder
• Abrupt counter-steering after drifting off the road

Vehicle factors:

• Abnormally high center-of-gravity load
• Collapsed suspension on one side
• Under-inflated or blown tires on one side
• Defective brake system
• Uneven cargo distribution
• Shifting cargo

Highway factors:

• Unsafe speed advisory
• Exaggerated road banking
• Unusual sharpness of a curve

A semi-truck rollover can wreak havoc, crushing cars, spilling cargo and blocking the highway for hours on end. In this kind of crash even the truck driver isn't safe and could sustain serious, even fatal injuries. This is where experience comes in handy.

If you have been hurt in a New Orleans truck accident, contact the attorneys of the Young Firm in New Orleans immediately for a FREE consultation on your case at (504) 680-4100 (local) or (866) 660-7220 (toll free) or by sending us an e-mail.