Commercial carrier trucks weigh as much as 80,000 pounds and tower over standard vehicles on roadways. Despite Chicago’s dependency on commercial trucks, such as 18-wheelers, as essential links in the supply chain, these immense vehicles endanger other motorists in accidents.
One of the most devastating types of truck accidents in Chicago and elsewhere is a truck override accident. Unfortunately, a trucking company may try to shift blame to the motorist, especially if the injury victim doesn’t have legal representation through a Chicago truck accident attorney.
Most car tires range between 25 and 30 inches tall, while a Semi-tractor-trailer truck tire is nearly twice that size. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), over 70% of truck accident injuries and fatalities occur to those in other vehicles, not the truck driver. A truck override is an accident that places the occupants of smaller vehicles at risk of severe or deadly trauma.
A truck override accident occurs when a truck collides with a smaller vehicle. During a powerful collision, the truck’s large tires cause it to climb up and over the car. Because of the immense size and weight discrepancy, override accidents often crush the smaller vehicle, causing severe trauma or wrongful death to motorists.
Trucks have extended blind spots, require lengthy stopping distances, and make wide turns. It takes an alert, well-qualified driver and a carefully maintained truck to prevent accidents, including deadly override accidents. The most common causes of truck override crashes include the following:
Illinois is a fault-based accident state, requiring injury victims who wish to recover compensation to file a claim against the at-fault party. This often requires an in-depth investigation into all aspects of the truck accident to determine the cause and identify the liable party.
Injury victims or the surviving family members of a fatally injured victim must have evidence of the at-fault party’s negligence. The evidence must show the following legal elements of liability:
Common liable parties in truck override accidents include the truck driver, the trucking company, a truck maintenance company, or the manufacturer of defective truck parts or tires.
Under the comparative negligence law in Illinois, an injury victim can still recover a portion of compensation for their losses, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and compensation for pain and suffering, even if they were partly at fault for the accident, as long as they are less than 50% responsible.
It takes multiple separate entities to keep a well-maintained, safely loaded truck on the road with a well-qualified driver behind the wheel. All involved parties must adhere to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations and take reasonable measures to avoid causing an accident, such as a deadly override accident in Chicago.
Call or contact Smith LaCien LLP for legal representation so you can focus on your physical and emotional recovery while your attorney navigates your financial recovery.
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