More than 180,000 people are injured or killed in highway accidents involving trucks each year, and nearly one in ten highway deaths involves a truck. Many of these happen when cargo falls off of a truck and hits a vehicle and/or the load shifts in a truck, causing the driver to lose control of his or her rig.
About loose cargo and truck accidents
Obviously, a collision between a car or SUV and a semi truck is not a fair fight. Neither is having something from the truck bed fly at you as you are travelling down the highway. While there is a myriad of laws about how trucks must secure their loads, mistakes happen and equipment can fail. Below are just a few ways that cargo can present a hazard to motorists sharing the road with a truck…
- Cargo that is stacked too high. Cargo, such as wood, metal or even cars and SUVs, stacked on a flatbed is supposed to be securely covered to prevent items from flying off of the truck and hitting the vehicles behind them. However, tarps can come untied or slip out of place and pieces of cargo can become airborne, potentially injuring drivers and passengers in the vehicles behind them. Even a piece of cargo on the road can become a hazard.
- Spilt cargo. It’s not just items that can fall off of a truck that presents a hazard. Tank trucks can lose part of a load of slippery or flammable material, causing the surface of the roadway to become unsafe, not only for the vehicles directly behind the truck but those who travel on the road until the material is cleaned up.
- Unbalanced loads. Trailers, semis and pickup trucks with cargo that isn’t loaded evenly in their truck beds can also be a road hazard. This imbalanced load can cause the driver to lose control of his or her truck, to jackknife and/or to swerve off of the road. This is especially troublesome when the truck is turning and can even cause the truck to turn over.
Why you need a Personal Injury Attorney
If you or someone you know has been injured as a result of a truck accident in Southern California, you need a skilled Los Angeles truck accident attorney to represent your interests and get you the money you need to help pay your living expenses and medical bills.
To learn more about how the Law Offices of Jacob Emrani can help you get the settlement you and your family deserve, contact a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles. In most such cases, they won’t even invoice you until they collect a settlement on your behalf.
