Dedicated Attorneys for Truck Accidents in Kansas City and Nationwide
Easily weighing 20 times more than the average passenger vehicle, a fully-loaded tractor-trailer is likely to inflict catastrophic personal injury or death in any collision with a smaller, lighter car. A look at crash data for 2014 shows that semi-trucks were involved in 5.5% of all traffic accidents in the state of Kansas, yet accounted for 12.8% of all fatal accidents that year. Thousands are injured and hundreds die every year in truck accidents in Missouri and Kansas alone; the figures nationwide are much higher.
Sadly, lax trucking regulations and pressure from the trucking industry to deliver ever more cargo on an increasingly tight schedule combine to make truck accidents a constant threat to motorists on our roads and highways. The personal injury attorneys at Gorny Dandurand in Kansas City help people injured by negligent truck drivers and trucking companies recover the compensation they need to deal with their injuries, while holding the trucking industry accountable for its failures and misconduct.
Causes of Truck Accidents – Driver Factors
Most truck accidents are attributable to driver error. Truckers are often motivated or pressured to deliver their freight as quickly as possible, sometimes at the expense of safety. This pressure can lead to speeding and aggressive or reckless driving, as well as placing truck drivers behind the wheel long past the time when they should take a rest. The nation’s trucking regulations limit the number of hours truckers can be on duty and driving, but even truckers in compliance with the rules may still drive 11 hours a day during a 14-hour workday, working 60 or 70 hours across a seven or eight-day workweek without taking an extended rest. Many drivers resort to stimulants to stay awake, but research has shown that such drugs cause a decrease in alertness and attention to the road.
Causes of Truck Accidents – Trucking Company Factors
The trucking company itself is also responsible for maintaining its fleet in good working order. Bad tires and worn-out or out-of adjustment brakes can lead to major accidents, yet these deficiencies routinely turn up during roadside inspections. Trucking companies should be regularly inspecting their fleet and performing necessary repairs and maintenance. Trucking company supervisors must also ensure that they hire qualified drivers and provide them with proper training and safety equipment. Again, surprise inspections frequently uncover drivers who are not properly licensed for the vehicle they are driving. Other causes of trucking accidents, which may be due to negligence of the driver or other employees of the trucking company, include overloading trucks, or driving with an unbalanced load.
Serious Representation for the Most Serious Truck Accidents
Truck accident cases often contain very complex facts that require thorough investigation and study by knowledgeable and experienced attorneys. Coupled with the serious or catastrophic injuries that often accompany a truck accident, it is imperative to find skilled and dedicated lawyers to help when you or a loved one are injured in a collision with a tractor-trailer. The attorneys at Gorny Dandurand have achieved record verdicts and multi-million dollar settlements in truck accident cases in the US. If you or a family member were hurt in a serious truck accident in Kansas City or nationwide, call 816-756-5071 for a no-cost, confidential evaluation of your case.
