If you’ve been injured in a truck involved crash do you need to contact a trucking accident attorney? A lawyer who specializes in truck accidents is usually your best bet, especially if the driver exhibited one of the most common unsafe, negligent behaviors while behind the wheel.
Common unsafe truck driver behaviors include:
• Extreme fatigue or drowsiness: the Federal Carrier Safety Administration (FCSA) requires that truck drivers comply with special “hours of service” rules. Drivers may not drive for more than 11 hours after spending 10 consecutive hours off duty. Drivers may also not drive beyond the 14th hour after coming off duty or drive more than 60 hours over 7 consecutive days.
• Aggressive driving: because drivers may be under the gun to get to a certain location, some drivers may resort to aggressive driving to “force” other vehicles to move out of the way.
• Inadequate training: handling a big rig takes tremendous skill and knowledge. An driver with limited training and experience is a hazard on the road because he or she does not know certain techniques that will keep motorists safe.
• Distractions: while cell phone and texting problems may plague car drivers, truckers who text and drive is not uncommon and poses a grave risk too.
Trucking Accident Attorney Can Help You Determine Responsibility
Sometimes culpability is not completely clear, which is why contacting a trucking accident attorney is important. An experienced attorney will take numerous factors into account to pinpoint why you were injured and who could be at fault.
In a trucking accident there are many factors that could be behind the accident:
• The truck driver;
• Owner of the truck or trailer;
• The individual or company who leased the truck or trailer from the owner;
• The company that manufactured the vehicle, tires or other parts of the truck or car that may have malfunctioned;
• The shipping company that may have improperly loaded cargo, which caused the accident.
