When a passenger vehicle collides with a commercial truck, the results are almost always catastrophic. Truck accidents cause more severe injuries, higher fatality rates, and longer recovery times than typical car crashes. The devastating nature of these collisions means you need experienced legal representation fighting for the compensation you deserve.
1. The Physics of Massive Weight Difference
A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, while the average passenger car weighs around 4,000 pounds. That’s a 20-to-1 weight disparity!
When these vehicles collide, basic physics dictates that the smaller vehicle—and its occupants—absorb the majority of the impact force. The protective features in your car, like crumple zones and airbags, are designed for collisions with similarly sized vehicles, not 40-ton trucks. The sheer force crushes passenger compartments, causes rollovers, and creates unsurvivable impacts.
2. Longer Stopping Distances Mean Higher Impact Speeds
Even with properly maintained brakes, a fully loaded truck traveling at 65 mph needs approximately 525 feet to come to a complete stop—nearly the length of two football fields. A passenger car at the same speed stops in roughly 300 feet. This means trucks often can’t avoid collisions even when drivers react quickly.
Worse, when truck drivers are distracted, fatigued, or speeding, these stopping distances increase dramatically, resulting in higher-speed impacts that cause exponentially more damage.
3. Cargo Adds Unpredictable Dangers
Improperly secured or overloaded cargo creates additional hazards. Cargo shifts can cause trucks to jackknife or roll over. Loads that break free become deadly projectiles on the highway. Hazardous materials carried by some trucks can explode, burn, or release toxic chemicals, turning a collision into a multi-casualty disaster.
4. Higher Ride Height Creates Underride Risks
The elevated chassis of commercial trucks creates the horrifying possibility of underride collisions, where a passenger vehicle slides underneath the truck’s trailer. These accidents often shear off the top of the car, causing severe head and neck trauma. Despite federal regulations requiring underride guards, many are poorly designed or inadequately maintained.
5. Complex Injuries Require Extensive Treatment
Survivors of truck accidents frequently suffer traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, multiple fractures, internal organ damage, and severe burns. These injuries require emergency surgery, prolonged hospitalization, extensive rehabilitation, and often result in permanent disability. The physical, emotional, and financial toll is devastating.
The Law Offices of Tim Misny can help you with your truck accident claim. When you’ve been seriously injured by a commercial vehicle, I’ll Make Them Pay!® Call my office at (877) 614-9524 so I can evaluate your case right away.
