Big Rig Accident in Fairfield on Interstate 80
I’m Ed Smith, a Fairfield truck accident lawyer. An accident occurred on Friday between a big rig and a passenger vehicle on Interstate 80 in Fairfield heading west. The crash remains under investigation as to cause at this time.
Details of the Accident
A collision between a Toyota Prius and a semitruck occurred in the afternoon hours near Cordelia Road in the far right lane of the highway. According to the California Highway Patrol, an ambulance was dispatched to transport the injured for medical evaluation and treatment if needed. Multiple injuries were recorded, however, there has been no information provided as to the nature or severity of the injuries at the time this report was filed. In addition, there is no word on whether determination of fault has been established.
Large Trucks in Fatal and Non-Fatal Accidents
In 2014, the last year complete records are available, 3,744 big trucks had accidents involving fatalities with 88,000 more involving injuries only. Beyond that, 346,000 trucks caused property damage alone.
The Role of Hazardous Materials
About 3 percent of truck drivers who had a fatal crash were found to be hauling hazardous materials. Big rigs in non-fatal crashes with hazardous substances onboard account for 2 percent of accidents. Flammable substances, such as oil and gas, were released in 57 percent of non-fatal crashes and 49 percent of fatal ones.
Fatalities and Trailer Number
Trucks that had a single trailer attached were involved in 63 percent of fatal accidents for the calendar year of 2013. Truck tractors hauling two trailers were part of only 2 percent of fatal crashes in the same year, while tractors pulling three trailers were involved in 0.1 percent of accidents causing death.
Critical Events Linked to Truck Accidents
Critical events are actions that make a crash more likely. They are:
- Leaving the lane of traffic for another lane or off the road entirely happened in 32 percent of crashes.
- Rear-end collisions were responsible 22 percent of the time.
- Loss of control from speeding, poor roads, cargo issues or problems with truck’s mechanical systems happened in 29 percent.
Critical Reasons for Truck Accidents
Critical reasons are those acts that precipitate a critical event. The critical reasons related to drivers are:
- The driver did not perform as necessary. Actions in this category are falling asleep or experiencing a medical event such as a seizure or cardiac event.
- Driver inattention where the driver was distracted by something inside or outside his or her vehicle, failing to observe the road circumstances.
- Decision failure by the driver. This can result in not gauging the speed of other vehicles correctly, not allowing enough room between vehicles or maintaining a speed inappropriate for roadway conditions.
- Driver response is exaggerated such as occurs when overcorrecting.
Other Factors That Are Involved in Truck Accidents
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration study, the most common factors are:
- A break in traffic flow such as another accident
- Brake problems such as defective brakes or poorly maintained ones
- Not being familiar with the road
- Prescription drug impairment
- Over-the-counter drug impairment
- Fatigue
Fairfield Truck Accident Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Fairfield truck accident lawyer. California’s roadways are busy transportation routes for big trucks. When accidents happen, particularly when passenger vehicles are involved, serious injury and death to the occupants of the small, lighter motor vehicles frequently occur. When this happens. you need the insight of an experienced legal professional who can answer your questions. Reach out to me by calling (707) 564-1900 or (800) 404-5400. There is no charge for my friendly advice.
When you are hurt, it is enough to try to heal without dealing with insurance companies and the worry that you will be able to pay your bills. As an injury lawyer, I work hard to take that burden from you. Fairfield and Northern Californians have, for over 35 years, known that my legal team and I will fight to ensure the compensation you receive for traumatic injury and wrongful death claims is just.
Before engaging an attorney, you want to know what they have done for their clients in the past, what sort of verdicts and settlements they won and what clients thought of their services. My rankings are easy to find on Google, Yelp, and Avvo.
Making sure a client is not torn apart financially by someone else’s negligence is imperative. However insurance companies and defense attorneys work to lower the compensation a victim receives. This is unacceptable and has never stopped my drive to make sure clients are well compensated. My membership in a group that acknowledges million dollar or higher settlements or verdicts is important to me. Check out www.milliondollaradvocates.com here.
You are reading this on my website, autoaccident.com, which I founded and own. Continue browsing to broaden your knowledge of personal injuries and how the law in California deals with them.
Photo Attribution: https://pixabay.com/en/crash-car-dump-truck-korea-1924573/
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