Truck accidents of any type can be fatal or cause devastating injuries simply because of the size and weight of commercial trucks. An eighteen-wheeler can weigh 40 tons. A light truck, which is a specific truck designation that weighs five tons, is something of a misnomer when it comes to thinking about the weight vis-à-vis a car. Cars weigh about one and a half tons, and a pickup or van weighs just over two tons.
Wide right-turn accidents are among the most typical kinds of truck collisions. Accidents involving trucks making wide right turns without exercising due care can result in significant property damage and are particularly risky since they may cause head-on crashes, side-impact collisions, or even trap cars between the truck and the opposing lane. If you or a loved one has suffered a truck-related accident, speak with a reputable truck accident lawyer right away to learn more about your legal options.
How Dangerous Are Truck Accidents?
Because of the size of the vehicles, truck accidents are particularly dangerous. It is challenging to retake control of a truck after the driver has lost it. Due to its size compared to other vehicles, the truck has a greater potential to collide with them and the surrounding region, causing extensive damage. The drivers nearby run the risk of suffering severe injuries because the vehicle has the potential to behave as a battering hammer.
In 2017, the most recent year for which statistics are available, more than 4,100 persons lost their lives in truck accidents nationwide. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute, 68 percent were in cars or other passenger vehicles. 14 percent of those slain were on foot, on motorcycles, or bicycles, while 17% of those killed were in trucks.
Why Truck Accidents Occur in Wide Right Turns
When a truck driver needs to make a right turn, this is one of the situations in which they frequently lose control of their vehicle.
Commercial big rigs are exceedingly difficult to turn in a right-hand turn because of their size and design. It is not difficult for a car driver to turn a little object to the right. The situation is somewhat more complex in fact that a truck can extend for up to 50 feet, much further than a car.
They risk failing to perform the right turn safely and colliding with other objects or cars if they lack the necessary maneuvering space or do not adequately get ready for the turn. Due to the size of the truck, this improper turn might have a wide-ranging, disastrous consequence that could result in property damage, serious injuries, and potentially wrongful death.
Kinds Of Truck Right Turn Accidents
Drivers must first swing their trucks to the left to perform a wide right turn. The truck swings too far to the left during the first type of wide right-turn collision. Actually, it is capable of crossing into the left lane and striking moving automobiles there.
The second kind of collision happens when a driver makes a right turn too soon after turning slightly to the left. A rollover, another potentially fatal truck accident where the vehicle falls over, can occur if the driver fails to swing left far enough. Rollovers themselves can have disastrous results, such as cargo spilling into the road or catching fire from flammable cargo or the truck’s massive fuel tanks. The truck may veer off the road if the left turn is not made enough.
A road with two right-turn lanes may experience the third type. The truck has the potential to stray into the second turn lane when it turns. If a car is in that lane, the turning truck might trap or crush it.
Right Turn Accidents Resulting from Careless Driving
When intending to turn right, the truck’s driver must signal using a turn signal. However, a lot of vehicle drivers are unaware of the necessity of swinging to the left before making a right turn when operating a big rig or tractor-trailer. They might not understand how important it is to give the vehicle plenty of room as a result.
A truck driver’s lack of local knowledge, particularly if they are traveling on secondary roads rather than motorways, can increase the risk of wide right turn accidents. Up to 80% of all freight moving in the United States is transported by truck, and drivers frequently cross state lines.
The route may be across areas they have never been in. Maps will not always let them know that a relatively wide country road suddenly becomes narrower through a residential or business area. Truckers can find narrow roads very difficult to navigate.
Truck Drivers Receive Training To Prevent Right Turn Collisions
Even for a skilled and experienced driver, wide right turns are challenging. Making these turns should always be a requirement for acquiring a business driver’s license because they differ dramatically from turning in a car (CDL).
As part of the CDL application process, which includes a test on the contents of the CDL Handbook, drivers receive instruction and training on how to turn a truck right. A right-hand turn competency exam and a series of in-person observations of the driver are among the requirements for passing the state’s skills testing and receiving a CDL license. A CDL holder should therefore be completely aware of how to make a wide right-hand turn safely.
Learn About Getting A CDL In Indiana Here
Unqualified And Inexperienced Truck Drivers May Cause Accidents When Making A Right Turn
For several reasons, trucking businesses are increasingly using unlicensed drivers. The first issue is the lack of truck drivers in the country. The shortage of licensed drivers in the business, which is now around 50,000, will increase over time.
Companies that are unable to obtain CDL-qualified drivers may turn to unqualified drivers. Second, for financial reasons, some businesses could believe they can recruit unlicensed drivers and pay drivers without a CDL.
Trucking businesses might be attempting to complete their runs with unlicensed and possibly even inexperienced truck drivers for either of these reasons. In situations where the inexperienced driver is unprepared, such as when operating a truck’s complex air brakes or performing a right-hand turn, the results can be fatal. Trucks differ greatly from cars and other vehicles in these situations. Both may result in broad right-hand turn truck collisions.
Truck Accidents During Right Turns May Be Caused By Tired Drivers
Driver weariness is among the most frequent reasons for truck accidents. Truck drivers frequently put in lengthy hours, and some may even falsify their logs to work above the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) eleven-hour limit. The same effects that alcohol can have on a motorist also apply to fatigue and sleepiness. It may lead to slowed reaction times, loss of concentration, and poor decision-making.
A commercial driver who is sleepy may underestimate the distance between their vehicle and the turn when they approach a right turn. They might not give themselves enough room to make the turn safely, which could result in collisions with other cars.
These are just some types of right-turn accidents. Learn more about determining liability in right-turn truck accidents here.
