A high-speed collision with any vehicle can be devastating. However, a high-speed collision of a car with a semi truck often has a grim outcome for the motorist. The rear underride guards of semi trailers don't offer much in the way of a crumple zone for absorbing impact energy.
Damaged or rusted guards offer virtually no protection at all. In addition, hitting one at an offset (with the front left or right side of your car) causes severe damage to the car and may demolish the area occupied by the driver or right front passenger. Finally, a high-speed collision with the side of a trailer, which lacks an underride guard, can shear off the top half of a car.
How do these car/truck accidents happen? Often when the semi truck is invisible. In
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Fog obscures clear visual references that you rely on to judge speed, and produces the illusion of going too slow. This phenomenon, combined with an impaired ability to judge distance, can cause a fatal delay in applying the brakes when you do sense that you're closing in on a truck. Slow down and keep an eye on your speedometer. Don't "out drive" the distance that you can see in front.
Trucks with Dirty Trailer Lights and Reflectors
Without working lights or reflectors, the trailer of a semi truck at night is invisible. It's rare for a trucker to drive around with all of his trailer lights burnt out. On the other hand, lights and reflectors covered in dirt, mud, or salt are more common. Dirt covered lights and reflectors are just as hazardous as not having them at all.
What appears to be an oncoming semi truck in the opposite lane could be a truck pulling into the lane from a side road to your right. The lights you see are the tractor's headlights in the opposite lane. What you don't see is the invisible trailer crossing your path in front of you. Here is an animated simulation of this with a truck pulling a flatbed
Fort Branch Police say two semis were parked on the side of US 41 when a woman drove toward the trucks, and had to swerve to miss the first one.
I spoke with Ryan, who stated he was eastbound at about 40 mph when he stated he could not stop in time & struck the trailer. Ryan stated he was wearing his seatbelt & was alone in the car, a 2015 Nissan Altima bearing MN registration of ADT800. Ryan’s car had severe front-end damage & appeared to be stuck on the left frame rail of the trailer.
Crossing the median can have deadly consequences, as the above accident demonstrates. When one vehicle crosses into the wrong lane, it is likely to hit another vehicle head on. Head-on collisions account for only two percent of car accidents but head-on collisions result in ten percent of fatalities from traffic accidents. One reason a head-on collision is deadly is it is as if the driver’s vehicle ran into a brick wall because both vehicles are moving forward at time of the impact. This increases the severity of the collision. Even at low speeds, a head-on collision can be deadly.
If you've been injured as the result of a collision with a semi, you may want to browse the truck accident attorneys in your area to find representation. While, comparatively speaking, semi tractor-trailers cause far fewer accidents on the roads than your typical automobile (perhaps due solely to their relative scarcity), the danger they pose is real. A car that runs into another car at low speeds is unlike to cause injury or death. A car that runs into a truck (or vice-versa) can create serious problems even when the vehicles aren't traveling very quickly. Trucks are far heavier than even the largest cars and there is little give to them in a collision. If a collision occurs as a result of negligence, you may be entitled to compensation.
A few months back i was driving on I 81 with my mom, and at the time i only had my learners. So i was driving in the right lane and right next to me was a tractor trailer, so we approach the sign that says the weight station is open. So knowing the tractor trailer is beside me needing to get over i speed up to try and past him. Well as i increase speed, so does the tractor trailer. So we are now about 15 feet away from the weigh station, and me and the tractor trailer are still side by side increasing speed. So basically it's just a game of chicken. We are now approaching the on ramp , and the tractor trailer turns on its blinkers to come over to the right lane ,but slight problem, were still side by side. So i start slamming on the brake
Remember that unlike you, people driving small vehicles don't understand that large trucks can't brake as rapidly as they. The car in front will not take your stopping distance into account when they brake. It is
A Tough Rock Rails for a Tough Vehicle. Jeep vehicles have a reputation for the ability to traverse tough terrain. Off-road obstacles can obliterate vehicle rocker panes. Off Camber’s Wrangler JK rock rails combine fun and functionality by protecting your undercarriage and sides during rock crawls, tree crossings and mud bogging. These rails are extra hard, providing superior protection against impacts and abrasions, and the
Some of the more notable dangers are the extensive blind spots that surround the truck in relation to its size. These blind spots are called the no-zone areas. Any vehicle that moves into one of these zones essentially disappears from sight and cannot be seen by the truck driver whenever he changes lanes or makes a turn.
Sometimes liability lies with whoever owned and failed to maintain the vehicle. Truck parts can suffer wear quickly due to regular long-distance trips. Mechanical problems such as brake failures and the neglecting of routine maintenance can often lead to accidents.
Driving a semi-truck is different from driving an ordinary vehicle. The force inertia acting upon a semi-truck, especially one with a loaded trailer on it’s back, is far greater than on an ordinary sedan or pick-up truck. With your everyday four wheeled vehicle, when you slam the brakes down, it’s only the vehicle that it has to stop. When a semi-truck slams its brakes down however, the weight of the trailer acts upon it as well. When you were in elementary school, walking down the hallway in a line, did you ever stop suddenly and cause your friend to walk into you? The situation is very similar here, only this time your friend is going to send you forward into the person standing in front of you, and that person is going to go flying.
Dirt and other residue that build up on your headlights block light. The thicker the grime layer, the less light available for illuminating the road at night. Your headlights should project enough light to allow sufficient time for stopping should you suddenly see an obstruction or person in front of you. With dirty headlights, this is certainly not the case, and you are out-driving your headlights.
o Driver fatigue. Truck drivers are pushing their limits to deliver their goods, driving with little sleep and an extra load of stress. They're driving faster and pushing the envelope of safety. They keep less and less distance between themselves and the passenger cars nearby.
Before driving out on the highway, the truck driver must do a thorough safety inspection. Over time, some drivers may cut corners on their pre-trip inspection. Some commonly overlooked items are dirty or missing reflectors, burnt out tail lights, and under inflated tires. Reflectors and tail lights prevent nighttime underride accidents, which may destroy the top half of a car. Under inflated tires cause blowouts that force the driver to
Of all the vehicles on the road, large 18-wheeler trucks pose the most danger to cars. Their heavy loads mean that they take longer to stop and their enormous size means they have huge blind spots (also called no zones). While truck drivers are trained to frequently check their mirrors so that they can track cars before entering their blind zones, they can't always do this because of fatigue or distraction. Therefore, it is up to the car driver to be aware of the truck's blind spots and to drive accordingly.
The pickup truck that struck the limo mentioned above, hit the limo broadside. According to an engineer with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety this couldn’t have been a worse place to hit a limo. “It hit the most vulnerable spot.” At the spot hit there is no structure, according to the engineer.