Marietta Motor Vehicle Accidents Law Blog

It may be easy for you and others in Marietta to view driving a semi-truck or tractor-trailer as a lifestyle other than hat it truly is: a profession. This may be the reason why so many of those that come to see us here at Sams, Larkin, Huff & Balli, LLP following a truck accident are so quick to assign all of the blame to the driver. Truckers face many of the same professional pressures that you do, including the pressure to perform. If such pressure is being applied by a motor carrier, you might be right in asking whether or not it too might be liable if and when an accident occurs. 

Like you, truck drivers may push themselves (and their vehicles) to and sometimes even beyond their limits in order to please their employers. While you (and them) may simply be trying to be the best employee you can be, oftentimes such exertion can be due to employers requiring it. Indeed, when researching the various factors that cause truck accidents, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that drivers often cited work pressure from their employers as a reason why they operated their vehicles in a manner that led to accidents. 

A jackknife truck accident is one of the scariest crashes that can occur on Georgia highways because of its potential to involve multiple other vehicles and their occupants. The length of a tractor-trailer and the truck pulling it can cross several lanes of traffic as it slides out of control, blocking other lanes and causing vehicle after vehicle to crash into it and each other. The results are often catastrophic, as many can remember was the case two years ago, when four tractor-trailers and a pickup truck were involved in an accident that killed both occupants of the pickup.

HowStuffWorks explains that jackknifing essentially is a loss of traction, which can happen easily on slick roads. If the tires begin skidding and the driver panics and slams on the brakes, they can lock and leave wheels without the traction needed to stop. If the wheels lock on either the tractor or trailer, the traction loss allows the rig to swing sideways, coming up alongside the tractor in an L-shape, or jackknife.

Thanks to their massive size, the semi-trucks and tractor-trailers seen traveling on the roads in and around Marietta can cause extensive devastation if and when they are involved in accidents. For this reason, truck drivers are well-trained in the control of their vehicles. On top of that, they are versed in safe and defensive driving techniques, essentially assuming the added responsibility of protecting others from the risks their vehicles cause. A failure to fulfill that responsibility might result in tragedy, as well as added criminal and civil culpability being assigned to the responsible truck driver. 

A recent multi-car crash in Richmond Hill may serve as a sad reminder of what might happen when a trucker's apparent negligence affects others on the road. The vehicle in question was reportedly forced into the center lane of I-95 into order to avoid colliding with the slower-moving traffic ahead of it. This resulted in a collision with another semi-truck, which ultimately triggered a chain reaction that saw a nearby SUV pushed over a concrete barrier onto the adjacent railroad tracks, another SUV being rear-ended, and still a third being pinned against the concrete barrier and ultimately bursting into flames. Sadly, the woman driving the burning vehicle was unable to make it out. Her male passenger was (though he did sustain burns in the process), as did the driver of the vehicle thrown onto the train tracks. 

Imagine the following scenario: you are driving along when suddenly, another car plows into you. While you are able to avoid injury, the damage to your vehicle is extensive enough that you know it will be costly. As you walk up to speak with the driver that hit, you notice food wrappers strewn about his or her front seat, and fresh grease and condiment stains on his or her shirt, no doubt indicating that he or she had been eating something when the accident occurred. 

If you do not need to imagine this situation due to it already having happened to you, then one question likely remains fixed in your mind: was the person who hit you being negligent by eating while driving? With all of added attention being placed on distracted driving recently, it seems surprising that eating while driving has been overlooked in this argument. Perhaps it is because of the assumption that eating is such a natural act that it hardly seems distracting.