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Types of Truck Accidents in Alabama

Although large commercial trucks account for just a small percentage of all vehicles, truck accidents cause a disproportionate number of serious and fatal injuries in the U.S. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) releases an annual report regarding the number and cause of collisions with large trucks and buses. According to the Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2018 report, nearly half a million large truck crashes occurred for the year of the report, 21 percent of which caused injuries and one percent of which were fatal. In addition, occupants of passenger vehicles make up most of those injured or killed in large truck crashes.

If you were injured in an Alabama truck accident, you could be entitled to compensation. The experienced, compassionate attorneys at Serious Injury Law Group are committed to helping you obtain fair compensation for the injuries you sustained. We will also give you the full, personalized attention you deserve throughout your case.

Contact our law firm for a free, no-obligation case review.

Common Types of Truck Accidents

Any type of motor vehicle accident can be disastrous, but due to the sheer size and weight of a large commercial truck, truck accidents tend to cause especially catastrophic damage and injury. Some of the most common and devastating truck accident types include:

Jackknife Accidents

One of the more serious truck crash types, a jackknife truck accident involves a trailer continues to move while the cab is braking, forming a 90-degree angle. These deadly accidents are often caused by negligent or inexperienced truck drivers who take turns too quickly or brake too hard. The trailer’s weight brings it forward against the traction of the cab.

Jackknifing trucks can easily veer out of control or roll over, causing additional destruction. Jackknifing was the most harmful event in 3,000 property damage crashes and 88 fatal crashes, according to the FMCSA report. 

Rear-End Crashes

The FMCSA also notes that large trucks traveling at 65 miles per hour can take up to two football fields of road space to come to a stop. If truck drivers are speeding, tailgating, or simply inattentive, they can cause devastating rear-end collisions when vehicles ahead of them slow down or stop. 

Underride Collisions

When truck drivers make short stops or negligent turns, smaller vehicles can become lodged underneath the truck’s trailer in underride collisions. Underride collisions often cause severe and sometimes fatal injuries for passenger vehicle occupants. 

Defective Equipment Accidents

Defective equipment accidents can occur due to faulty truck components, poor design, or low-quality materials. When a critical truck component such as the brakes, steering system, or trailer coupling fails, truck drivers can lose control and collide with other vehicles in dangerous truck accidents. 

Load/Cargo Shift Accidents

If the cargo in a commercial truck’s trailer is not properly loaded or secured, the motion of the moving truck can cause the cargo to shift within the trailer. Shifting cargo can change a truck’s center of balance, making tire blowouts, loss of control, or spillage more likely. The FMCSA’s report recorded 2,002 accidents where “cargo equipment loss or shift” was the first harmful event in a large truck crash. Two of those crashes were fatal. 

Tire Blowout Accidents

Tire blowout accidents can occur when one or more tires on a large truck burst or rupture on the road. Many tire blowouts result from improper inflation, overloaded cargo, or wear and tear. When the tires of a large truck rupture, drivers can lose control of the truck. The FMCSA cited tire issues as the second most common vehicle-related factor for large trucks in fatal crashes. 

Rollover Accidents

A rollover accident is one of the most catastrophic truck collision types that can occur. When large trucks roll onto one side, nearby vehicles can be struck or even crushed. Rollover accidents also frequently involve cargo spillage, which can severely endanger others on the road. Rollovers were the first harmful event in four percent of all fatal accidents involving large trucks, according to the FMCSA. 

Wide-Turn Accidents

Large trucks require more room to maneuver, so drivers usually need to swing wide to one side before their entire vehicle can make it through a turn safely. When negligent truck drivers fail to check their surroundings before making a wide turn, nearby vehicles or pedestrians can be caught in dangerous underride collisions. 

Head-On Collisions

Head-on collisions are one of the most devastating Alabama truck accident types. These crashes typically involve big rig trucks striking smaller passenger vehicles front-to-front. A large truck’s momentum in a head-on collision can easily cause severe or fatal injuries to occupants of smaller vehicles. FMCSA recorded 59 fatal accidents caused by a large truck crossing the center median and hitting a passenger vehicle during the most recent annual report. 

T-Bone Accidents

When negligent truck drivers run red lights or stop signs, they can strike other vehicles crossing through intersections in brutal T-bone accidents. Because the sides of a vehicle tend to offer occupants less protection in a crash, a T-bone accident with a truck can leave drivers and passengers with serious injuries. 

Side-Impact Accidents

In a side-impact accident, the side of a truck’s cab or swaying trailer hits the side of another vehicle traveling beside it. When the side of a large truck strikes another car, the car that absorbs the impact can sometimes careen into other nearby vehicles or spin out of control. 

Improper Maintenance Accidents

Commercial trucks travel thousands of miles every year, so they require regular inspections and frequent maintenance. When truck drivers, trucking companies, or truck mechanics are negligent in maintaining a large truck, a component or system failure can cause dangerous crashes.

How the Serious Injury Law Group Can Help You After a Truck Accident

The truck accident attorneys at the Serious Injury Law Group are familiar with all common truck accident types. We will advocate for you throughout the claim process by:

  • Explaining your legal rights and offering professional advice about your options
  • Conducting an independent investigation of your case to identify crucial evidence, such as stored black box data from the commercial truck
  • Investigating trucking companies and their drivers to check for a pattern of dangerous behavior, such as hours of service violations, traffic tickets, or a history of drunk or drugged driving
  • Handling all of the paperwork and filing your claim
  • Working with medical, occupational, and accident reconstruction experts to determine the underlying causes of the collision and how it has affected you
  • Communicating with other drivers, insurers, and lawyers on your behalf
  • Ensuring you get the proper medical care you need
  • Fighting aggressively for the compensation you deserve in insurance settlement talks, or if necessary, in a court of law

If You Were Injured in a Truck Accident, Contact an Experienced Lawyer from the Serious Injury Law Group

At the Serious Injury Law Group, our team of Alabama natives is exclusively focused on personal injury law. We are committed to providing top-quality legal services to local injury victims, including those injured in accidents with large commercial trucks. We help individuals who were injured in all types of truck collisions.

We will do everything we can to achieve the best possible outcome for your case rather than pushing you to settle before you’re ready. We believe in doing the right thing, and we never charge legal fees unless we recover compensation for our clients. When you’re ready to discuss the details of your Alabama truck accident claim with an attentive and compassionate attorney, contact us for a free initial consultation.