Timothy G. Anderson Automobile Accidents Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Understanding the causes of 18-wheeler accidents can help those injured by them to respond in a way which will meet their short-term and long-term needs.

Truck driver error is a major cause of truck accidents. Cost-cutting causes some truck companies to send their truckers out with substandard or badly maintained vehicles. Many truck drivers are forced by their employers to meet unreasonable delivery schedules that make them prone to accidents.

Wrongly inflated tires, insufficient safety lights, and malfunctioning brakes put other cars on the road at serious risk for an accident with a truck. If a truck’s cargo is poorly secured, it can pose an additional risk of danger for other drivers.

Accidents may not be part of most people’s daily lives but for trucking companies, they can be seen as a price for doing business. If you or someone you know was injured in a truck accident, you need an experienced trucking accident attorney who is familiar with the Tampa trucking accident laws.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “Large Truck Causation Study” some of the most common causes for accidents between large trucks and passenger vehicles include:

• Improper surveillance
• Forgetting to check blind spots
• Illegal driving maneuvers such as tailgating
• Failure to obey road signs
• Speeding or aggressive driving
• Driver carelessness
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Driver inattention or distraction
• Talking or text messaging on a cell phone
• Exhausted drivers (often due to driving longer than the allowed number of hours)
• Driver not anticipating other driver’s maneuvers
• Truck drivers are often driving late at night, drinking lots of caffeine such as coffee or energy drinks and not always in ideal health.

Common mechanical causes of trucking accidents are:

• Tires that come loose & detach
• Brakes that are malfunctioning or not adjusted correctly
• Improper safety equipment
• Improper loading or overloading of cargo
• Missed safety inspections

Truck crashes continue to be a potential danger for motorists or U.S. roads and injuries are usually catastrophic or even deadly, especially for the passengers in any automobiles involved. Additionally, the cost of physical recovery and ongoing medical care can be extremely expensive.

Brought to you by a Tampa trucking accident attorney of Timothy G. Anderson, P.A., 213 S. Brevard Ave., Tampa, Florida 33606, Tel: (800) 848-3024.