Truck Accidents from Failure to Maintain

In order to ensure the safest possible operation of a large and potentially dangerous commercial truck, trucking companies have a duty to ensure that their trucks are consistently maintained. However, because this can add up and create a serious expense for owners every year, this duty could be pushed aside temporarily. Many truck owners or operators believe that excessive maintenance is unnecessary and there is no difference in risk by foregoing some maintenance.

Some commonly-ignored maintenance duties include:

• Checking tires to ensure tread and integrity levels, replacing as necessary
• Checking brakes to ensure pad levels, replacing as necessary
• Checking operating lights to ensure none are burned out
• Checking trailer control systems, including pneumatic brakes and suspension
• Checking fluid levels to ensure all fluid-based systems operate functionally

These types of maintenance should be performed with every mechanical checkup and definitely before the start of each job. However, with rigs taking dozens of jobs every year and traveling tens of thousands of miles, it’s easy for the costs of this maintenance to add up.

Accidents Caused by Failure to Maintain

Failure to maintain a truck in some of the ways listed above can have potentially serious consequences when it leads to an accident. A tire blowout accident can leave shrapnel all over the highway that can hit cars, but can also cause the driver to lose control over the rig or the trailer. This can cause a jackknife or rollover accident. If lights don’t work properly, the driver could collide with another motorist, or vice versa, due to one not seeing the other.

Because commercial trucks are so large, the odds of an injury resulting from one of these collisions is much higher than an accident involving a regular car. When you are involved in an accident with a commercial truck, seek medical attention immediately, and then call a skilled attorney who can review the facts of your case with you and fight to maintain your rights after an accident.

The skilled truck accident lawyers at Sico Hoelscher Harris LLP have substantial experience assisting those who have been impacted by a truck accident. Our in-depth familiarity with personal injury law and the rights of victims all across the country make us an optimal choice to stand up for you in your injury trial. Don’t face big insurance companies and large truck operators with their large legal teams without a legal firm with a proven track record of substantial success on your side.