Still Too Many Truck Underride Crashes In Louisiana

Accidents with tractor-trailers in Louisiana often result in serious or critical injuries for car occupants because of a truck’s size and weight.
 

The weight

Slamming into a semi-truck’s cab is like hitting a concrete wall, and the violence of the impact can kill or seriously hurt the car’s occupants while leaving the truck driver virtually unhurt. A fully loaded semi-truck weighs up to 80,000 pounds, easily twenty times the weight of a car with passengers. A tractor-trailer is also predominantly made of heavy steel parts that do not easily crumple or deform when colliding.
 

The size

Unfortunately for Louisiana motorists, the size of an 18-wheeler also plays a significant role in the seriousness of injuries. When a passenger vehicle strikes a trailer, on the rear end or on the side, the collision often results in a trailer underride. In such a case, the lower part of the passenger vehicle penetrates deeply under the trailer, while its weaker upper part is sheared off or crushed by the trailer’s steel structure.
 
Tractor-trailers are supposed to have steel underride guards at the back of the trailer to prevent such underride crashes. There are no rules to impose guards on the sides of trailers.
 
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has conducted crash tests showing that rear underride guards on trailers often fail even in low-speed collisions. Most cars have a front-end structure that is designed to absorb a large amount of crash energy while protecting the car’s occupants. When hitting the back of a tractor-trailer, the well-designed crumple zone of a passenger car is of no use if the truck’s rear guard is not strong enough to resist the impact. The car will underride the trailer, with disastrous effects.
 
IIHS is now actively campaigning to have the government require stronger standards for trailer underride guards.
 
If you have been hurt in a car, truck or motorcycle accident caused by someone else, contact the New Orleans accident attorneys of the Young Firm for a FREE discussion of your case. Order now our FREE lawyer book, A Guide To Steering Through a Serious Vehicle Accident in Louisiana.