Flatbed trucking accidents can involve anything from rear-end collisions to jackknife to vehicle rollovers, and any type of passenger automobile accident that has the capacity to become event critical and wrecks that involve commercial trucks are more likely to be deadly or cause devastating life changing injuries. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, a total of 4,119 people died in large truck crashes in 2019. A flatbed truck crash, specifically, can present its own set of unique circumstances, complications, and hazards. At The Joseph Dedvukaj Firm, we understand too well the injuries and dangers resulting from commercial trucks and passenger vehicles accidents.
You know historically deaths in large truck crashes are passenger vehicle occupants. The main reason seems to be is the vulnerability of people traveling in smaller size vehicles. Large semi tractor trailer often weighs 20-30 times more than passenger cars and are taller with greater ground clearance, which can result in smaller vehicles under riding trucks in crashes.
Big rig truck’s braking capability can also be a factor in truck crashes. Fully loaded tractor-trailers can require 20-40 percent more stopping distance than cars to stop, and the discrepancy is greater on wet and slippery roads or with poorly maintained semi-truck trailer brakes. 18-wheeler truck driver fatigue is also known to be a crash danger. Drivers of large trucks are only allowed by federal hours-of-service regulations to drive up to 11 hours at a stretch of road. In truck driver surveys, the evidence has shown that many commercial truck drivers violate the regulations and work longer than permitted hours causing them to be sleepy or fatigued at your expense.
If you or your loved one have been involved in a collision involving a flatbed truck, or any other type of commercial truck, speak to a truck accident attorneys. Our team of attorneys have nearly 30 years of experience fighting for our client’s just compensation from the trucking companies and the trucking insurance industry.
At Joseph Dedvukaj Firm, we dedicate more than 50 percent of our practice to handling truck and commercial vehicle cases. Contact us today at 866-HIRE-JOE. We offer free, no-obligation consultations.
As we have explained in other law firm blogs, commercial vehicles can be anything from semi-trucks to taxicabs – each one having its own safety requirements to respond to for each vehicle’s unique set of risks and to prevent specific dangers to motorists and the public. A common type of commercial vehicle you have seen on the road today is a flatbed truck, which also has its own limitations and capabilities of becoming hazardous to drivers sharing the road.
A flatbed truck carries freight or cargo but doesn’t have walls or sides to support where that cargo is sitting on the flatbed trailer. Flatbeds are used for moving cargo that cannot fit into closed-in trailers (i.e., machinery, equipment, cranes, and building materials). Flatbeds can either be permanently attached to the frame of the truck, or be pulled as a trailer, meaning that the semi-truck is connected to a detachable trailer. There are basically two different styles of detachable flatbed trailers: standard trailer and lowboy trailer style.
Detachable flatbed trailers can haul wide range of goods. Standard detachable flatbed trailers are often used for items that include lumber, construction equipment, factory machinery and building materials. Flatbed lowboys sits lower to the ground and is used for carrying construction equipment such as front loaders, track loaders, backhoes, cranes, and heavier types of earth moving equipment.
Due to their ability to carry more weight than enclosed tractor trailers, flatbed truck accidents can be more serious than other types of commercial trucking accidents. Flatbed trucks can carry significantly more weight than regular enclosed trailers, which requires the driver or trucking company to use extra care to ensure the cargo is properly loaded and secured using sufficient securement devices such as chains and strapped to tie down the load. The State and Federal regulations also require periodic stops over the course of a trip to re-check the security of the transported material. Typically, a load that is either unbalanced or not appropriately tied down, a wreck is more likely to happen, often in the form of death or serious injury. Large truck’s cause injuries to people like you driving passenger cars when the following occurs:
Despite Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) regulations covering the truck loading process and the proper safe transportation of all materials on flatbed trucks, it is still common to see these trucks on freeways, moving with pieces of equipment and machinery that have been just set on the flatbed without the proper securement devices. Drivers who get behind the wheel of a flatbed truck are required to have extensive knowledge and training. However, trucking companies do not always train and supervise the trucker. One of the most common causes for flatbed truck accidents is drive inexperience and driver negligence by breaking the necessary rules of the road.
A flatbed truck wreck can affect literally anyone who is in vicinity the commercial vehicle’s reach. There are generally two different types of flatbed truck accidents: on-road and off-road.
On-road accidents refer to crashes that occur due to unsecured items falling off the truck on the roadway, or while moving and invading the cab of the truck, which can injure the truck driver. During a truck crash, these loose objects being transported can easily become lethal projectiles.
Off-road accidents take place on private property premises during the loading process. These are occasioned when the loading of the cargo needs to be exceptionally cautious because cargo can be unexpectedly unstable and dangerous especially if the use of heavy machinery is required to complete the job.
The severity of a flatbed crash is often directly related to the cargo being transported on the truck. For example, the sheer size and weight of steel coils, concrete beams and logs that come loose can create casualties when they fall on other vehicles or hit a pedestrian nearby. Despite, the fact that truckers are required to make frequent stops to check the securement of their cargo, and strict requirements for securing that cargo must be followed, tragic mistakes still happen.
Unfortunately, these mistakes can lead to serious injuries or fatal tragedy, and mostly for the other automobiles in the crash. If flatbed trucks and smaller cars collide, it is more likely that the car will end up either under the truck or under the cargo, because of the difference in the vehicles’ weight, size, and heights. In other situations, flatbed trucks can have a load shift and overturn onto automobiles, smashing them like a pancake.
If you or a loved one have been injured by a flatbed truck, looking for a truck accident lawyer can be confusing, be our law firm offers our sympathy and commercial truck crash expertise and decades of experience necessary for a successful handling of truck accident cases that are often traumatic and lead to critical injuries. Contact our law firm and learn more about why you should consider hiring an experienced truck attorney when battling the trucking industry for your justice and dignity.
As with any type of large vehicular accident, the reason for the collision can vary to a great degree. However, our team of experienced trucking accident attorneys has observed that flatbed truck wrecks are commonly caused by one of the following:
These common causes of a flatbed truck crashes are all centered around a driver or the operator’s negligent actions, which is heavily regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to prevent you from being injured and suffering losses.
For example, if a truck driver is found guilty for driving under the influence of either alcohol or drugs, the consequences will often be the driver is disqualified from commercial driving for life. In regard to a trucking company acting in a negligent manner – the trucking company or motor carrier could be sued for failing to keep trucks road-worthy (i.e., failing to replace worn tires, brakes, mechanical equipment etc.). Some trucking companies will cut corners to safe costs or may be a fly by night trucking company without the money to operate, so trucking company owners hire unqualified drivers at a lower wage in order to keep costs low and increase profits.
If you or someone you know been the victim of a flatbed trucking accident, attorney Joseph Dedvukaj is ready to aggressively fight for your rights. Our career as professional trucking accident lawyers is built on helping people like you move on with their lives. We will take care of anything from phone calls to medical records, and all other legal aspects of your case, allowing you to focus on what’s most important: healing. Contact us today at 866-HIRE-JOE. Let us be your advocates for the fight of your life. Trucking Accident Law Firm A+ Rated by Better Business Bureau.
