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Truck Accidents

When a Louisiana Truck Accident Claim Results from Distracted Driving

Posted on 5/10/2011St.John the Baptist Parish Truck Wreck Injures One
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Truck Accidents

Louisiana Truck Accident Attorney Explains How Driver Distractions can Warrant a Claim (Part B)

Two Sides to the Causes of Tractor-Trailer Accidents in Louisiana

Vehicles of very different sizes share Louisiana’s roadways, often at high speeds. From motorcycles and small passenger cars to monster 18-wheel tractor-trailers, the range of weight, size and strength is worryingly wide.

More specifically, 18-wheelers seem to play in a different league. Weighing up to 80,000 pounds and measuring 60 feet long, tractor-trailers involved in accidents with passenger car vehicles usually cause terrible damage.

With all the debates on large truck accidents in Louisiana, it is useful to summarize what causes these accidents, and who is mostly liable when tractor-trailers and passenger cars collide.

Recent studies have pointed out that roughly half the accidents between 18-wheelers and passenger cars are caused by the truck driver, while the other half are the result of negligence by the passenger car driver. Let us first look at the mistakes passenger car drivers make:

Driving in the truck’s “blind zones,” the areas around the truck where the truck driver cannot see the car;
Merging into traffic in front of a truck, causing the truck to brake or change lanes abruptly;
Driving slowly in front of a truck, forcing the truck to travel at a short distance behind the car;
Changing lanes into a narrow space in front of a truck;
Passing a truck without sufficient headway;
Staying to the right of a truck when it is turning right.

Most of the time, Louisiana motorists driving unsafely around trucks do not recognize a large truck’s performance capabilities in terms of acceleration, braking and visibility.

Truck drivers also contribute to some of the worst tractor-trailer crashes in Louisiana. In most cases, their errors result from:

Lack of training and experience;
The truck driver pay-by-the-mile system that encourages or forces truck drivers to keep on driving even though they are tired or sick;
Pressure by the motor carriers to deliver goods on time, pick up new cargo, drive at night or during rest days, in order to protect their financial interests.

Accidents with 18-wheelers can have devastating consequences. If you have been injured in a Louisiana car, truck, or motorcycle crash, contact the New Orleans accident attorneys of the Young Firm in New Orleans immediately for a free, no-commitment evaluation of your case. Order now our FREE lawyer book, A Guide To Steering Through a Serious Vehicle Accident in Louisiana.