Trucking accidents are often responsible for major injuries and fatalities, in large part due to the size and enormous momentum of the vehicles involved, especially fully-loaded trucks. Sacramento truck accidents are more common in large part because of the area’s location at the intersection of major north-south freeways like Interstate-5 and State Highway 99 with major east-west highways such as Interstate-80 and U.S. Highway 50. It’s proximity to the major Port of Oakland as well as the Port of Sacramento itself, but even more large semi-trucks on the area’s roads.
Accidents just in recent months include:
A recent collision on Interstate-80 that involved a big rig with a tank trailer and four other vehicles. Despite the scary appearance of this accident’s aftermath, there were fortunately only moderate injuries to two of the involved drivers, although traffic in the area was a mess for hours.
Another big rig incident, however, resulted in the death of a motorcyclist in the area of Elk Grove.
Sacramento truck accidents can also occur due to challenges present in operating big rigs — in addition to the substantial momentum that has to be overcome to safely stop or turn them, their size and unwieldy nature makes them prone to jack-knifing and overturning. A recent incident on State Highway 16 occurred when another vehicle apparently sideswiped a big rig, causing the truck’s driver to lose control, swerving into another lane and striking a pickup truck whose driver unfortunately died.
In addition to the differences in physics and mechanical forces, truck accidents are different in a number of ways from ordinary motor vehicle collisions in terms of personal injury claims. Unlike ordinary drivers, big rig operators and drivers are subject to many additional requirements and restrictions. Additionally, depending upon a number of factors, commercial trucking companies are almost always required to carry very large amounts of liability insurance — in part because of the risk of great damage and injuries to other people that their huge vehicles present.
Sacramento Truck Accident Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento truck accident lawyer with the primary accident information site on the web, AutoAccident.com.
If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic injury caused by negligence in a Sacramento truck accident or elsewhere, call me now at 916.921.6400.
You can find out more about our office by looking for us either on Yelp or on Avvo, the attorney rating site.