Trusted Commercial Truck Collision Lawyer Serving Louisville, KY
The amount of force involved in a car accident is great enough to seriously injure, or even kill those involved. Weighing in at between 4,000 and 6,000 pounds, the average car can be lethal, especially when colliding with another object at high speeds. This level of damage is nothing, however, compared to the damage that can be sustained in a collision with a commercial truck.
A loaded commercial 18-wheeler can weigh up to an incredible 80,000 pounds. In addition, tractor-trailers are larger and are higher off of the ground than other motor vehicles – which are two issues that make them even more deadly on the road. It is not surprising that commercial truck accidents result in more serious injuries and and fatalities than vehicle accidents that don’t involve a truck.
If you have been seriously injured in a Kentucky commercial truck accident, or if your loved one has been killed in a truck accident, you deserve to be fairly compensated in a manner that allows for a full or maximum recovery – and by all responsible parties. Gladstein Law Firm is committed to giving each of our clients the customized attention that they both deserve and need, and to make sure that the trucking industry is held responsible after cases of negligence. To request a free and private case review, please call (800) 991-0474 today.
An Industry That Puts Profits Above People
While we wish that we could tell you that all trucking collisions are the rare result of freak accidents and unavoidable occurrences, this is simply not often the case. A significant amount of the time, truck accidents are the result of a negligent trucking company, poor federal trucking regulations, and stressed, distracted, or reckless drivers.
In 2006, there were 77,000 injuries and 4,321 fatalities associated with commercial trucking accidents in the United States – comprising more than ten percent of all annual motor vehicle fatalities. This is a big problem, and the industry needs to be held accountable.
In the trucking industry, many commercial transportation companies will cut any corners that they can in order to increase their profits. That may mean that they engage in the following dangerous activities:
- Not properly vetting their drivers during the hiring process.
- Not properly training their drivers.
- Not properly supervising their drivers.
- Not testing their drivers for illegal substances.
- Encouraging their drivers to break federal trucking regulations.
- Encouraging their drivers to do whatever it takes to deliver loads more quickly.
- Not properly maintaining their vehicles.
- Not properly loading their vehicles.
- Not properly addressing the issue of distracted driving.
- Not properly addressing the issue of fatigued driving.
Commercial Truck Accidents & Fatigued Driving
The Federal Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) allows truck drivers to work as many as 11 consecutive hours at a time, and up to a weekly total of 90 hours. This is more than double the time worked by the average full-time employee in America. And as you might expect, given the sheer length of time demanded of commercial truckers, fatigued driving accounts for as high as 40 percent of all trucking accidents.
Even with trucking regulations that many believe still allow for fatigued driving, evidence shows that many truckers do not even follow these regulations, faking their log books or driving during rest periods with the tacit approval of their employers. Fatigued driving accidents can occur both because a trucker falls asleep behind the wheel, and because a tired driver may be distracted or slow to react to a hazard.
If you believe that your collision with a commercial truck or 18-wheeler involved fatigued driving, it is imperative that your legal team collects all evidence that could illustrate the facts, including driving logs, pick up and drop off schedules, and witness testimony. This evidence could not only establish that a driver was tired, but also that the trucking company knew about the driver’s state (or should have known about the driver’s state).
Gladstein Law Firm Can Help Your Recovery Process
Our law firm is dedicated to holding the trucking industry accountable for their negligence, one truck accident case at a time. Working with truck accident victims and their families one-on-one to gain compensation and justice from trucking companies is what we do best, and we want to help you next.
We leave other firms to handle class action lawsuits, mass recalls, and high-volume legal cases. We are here to help real people find real solutions in the wake of an accident that affects their lives and their families. Our experience, knowledge, and passion can help give you an edge in pursuing compensation for your truck accident injuries, starting today. Strict Kentucky filing deadlines mean that the time to act is now. Fill out our online contact form or call us at (800) 991-0474 to get started.
