Rear-End Truck Accident Lawyers

Rear-Ended by Truck vs. Rear-Ending a Truck

If you’re rear-ended by a truck, your vehicle is likely to suffer significant damage. Depending on how fast the truck was traveling, you could end up with a totaled car and catastrophic injuries.

The truck’s force as it hits your car could result in a chain reaction that impacts other cars as well. For instance, it could send your vehicle crashing nose-first into the car in front of you or shove you into the next lane, potentially leading to fatal injuries.

It’s not much better if you are the one who rear-ends the truck. In fact, 22.3% of all fatal car crashes in 2021 involving a truck and a car occurred when the front of the car hit the truck’s rear.

The front of your vehicle will usually get crushed. Depending on the speed at which you were traveling, you could hit your head against the window, steering wheel, or even the windshield. All of this shows that no matter who was to blame or how the accident occurred, you will most likely experience serious losses.

What Causes Most Rear-End Truck Collisions?

Rear-end truck collisions typically happen because of driver error, though manufacturing problems and maintenance issues can also be at play. Learn about the most common causes of these kinds of collisions.

Distracted Driving

In 2022, 3,308 people died in the United States because of distracted driving. Any driver who takes their mind or eyes off the road to text, change radio stations, or look at the GPS puts everyone else on the road at risk.

Trucks are significantly larger than most other vehicles on the road. As such, truckers must brake carefully and with enough time to prevent the momentum of the trailer from pushing the cab forward. If they’re not paying attention and apply the brakes too late, they could end up rear-ending the vehicle in front of them.

Intoxicated Driving

A truck driver who’s under the influence of drugs or alcohol will struggle with their reflexes and coordination. General driving skills and concentration levels are also impacted by substance use. This means that if a hazard appears on the road, they won’t be able to react as necessary to avoid a crash.

Drowsy Driving

Despite the national and state laws that prevent truck drivers from spending too many hours on duty, many trucking companies incentivize drivers to push themselves past what’s legal. This is a concern for everyone on the road because drowsy drivers are more distracted and will have slower reflexes.

If a trucker falls asleep at the wheel, they could cause a devastating accident. One common possibility is a rear-end collision that affects more than one vehicle.

Speeding

Any speeding vehicle is dangerous, but a speeding truck can be fatal. The velocity at which the truck travels can send it careening forward even if the driver hits the brakes in response to an immediate hazard.

Inexperienced Drivers

A trucking company is responsible for ensuring its drivers are experienced and trained. Driving a truck takes ability, so they must screen candidates to find the ones who are safest on the road. If they don’t take the time to do this and don’t offer appropriate training, they could be liable.

Manufacturing Defects

Driver error might not be the cause of the accident. Sometimes, the brakes don’t work correctly, the tires deflate, or any number of mechanical issues arise. These are manufacturing defects that make the truck unsafe to be on the road.

Maintenance Negligence

Trucks must be checked before any trip, but companies often skip this crucial step. Improper maintenance means that no one notices any issues the truck may have, from faulty brakes to broken lights, until it’s too late. Liability depends on who was in charge of maintenance. More than one entity could be at fault.

Improper Cargo Loading

Cargo has to be loaded correctly to prevent it from shifting during transport. Shifting cargo impacts the truck’s balance and could even make it more difficult for the trucker to stop in time to avoid a crash.

Dangerous Road Conditions

If a road has potholes, cracked cement, or other similar issues, the driver could lose control of the truck — especially when traveling at high speeds. They could skid or have trouble applying the brakes because of the damaged pavement.

What Kinds of Injuries Are Sustained in a Rear-End Collision?

Rear-end collisions cause a number of injuries that range from mild to catastrophic in terms of severity. Perhaps the most common injury, however, is whiplash.

Whiplash happens when your head rapidly moves backward and forward in a whip-like motion, causing strain to your neck ligaments, muscles, and other tissues. Most people think of whiplash as a mild condition, but the force at which your head moves can be significant enough to cause long-term damage.

Broken bones are also common. If you hit another object or part of your vehicle during the accident, the force could create fractures. Complex fractures are the most severe because they involve multiple breaks in a single bone.

Another area of the body that gets injured often in rear-end truck accidents is the spinal cord. The collision will push you forward with a great amount of force, and the seat belt will stop and shove you back hard in the opposite direction. This puts a lot of strain on your spinal cord, potentially causing lasting damage.

You risk harming your brain in these accidents, too. If your head slams into the steering wheel, dashboard, airbag, or even the side window, the force could jostle your brain, leading to traumatic brain injuries. These can result in brain damage and death.

Liability in Rear-End Truck Accidents

When filing a personal injury claim, you and your lawyer need to establish liability. Because of the many parties involved in ensuring a truck is road-worthy, it’s not always easy to immediately pinpoint who’s at fault.

The driver is liable if they broke the law by driving while intoxicated, fatigued, or distracted. However, the accident could also have resulted from a malfunctioning part. In that case, the manufacturer would be at fault. You must check whether the vehicle was maintained properly to rule out maintenance failures.

In instances where road conditions led to the accident, the party to blame could be the people in charge of maintaining the road. That may be the local or state government or a variety of other entities.

Proving liability requires your lawyer to gather evidence, beginning with truck maintenance logs. These can show whether the vehicle received the appropriate level of care before being placed on the road.

Driver logs and any electronic monitoring systems the truck has also help prove liability. They show how long the driver was driving, what their speed was, and lots of other crucial details.

Your lawyer will speak with expert witnesses, including truck mechanics, to understand what could have led to the accident. Eyewitnesses are important as well since they can give a sense of the truck driver’s demeanor and behavior prior to the accident.