When a large truck rolls over in the middle of the roadway, it can cause numerous collisions that often result in a massive traffic pile-up. Truck rollovers can involve 18-wheelers, big rigs, and tractor-trailers, and these incidents often happen when truck drivers fail to operate their vehicles within the appropriate standard of care. For example, the truck driver might be exceeding the speed limit or violating some other road rule.
These accidents are also common when a truck driver or trucking company fails to take the necessary precautions when loading cargo onto a truck or trailer. This can result in the truck’s center of gravity becoming offset, leading to a rollover. Trucking companies can even be fully or partially responsible for these accidents when they fail to hire qualified drivers or supervise the loading and unloading processes.
A truck rollover accident can severely injure many drivers and passengers. In the worst case, a fatality can occur due to the truck rolling over in the middle of the roadway and causing a series of collisions.
If you or someone you care about has suffered injuries in a truck rollover accident, you should speak with a knowledgeable truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. Your lawyer can review the police reports and any witness statements and investigate the circumstances behind your accident. We can apply any relevant laws, including the Alberta Insurance Act or Alberta Minor Injury Regulation (MIR), among others.
If you can file a claim with the at-fault truck driver or trucking company’s insurer, your lawyer can assist you throughout the process. If the insurance company refuses to offer you fair and full compensation for all of your accident-related injuries, your lawyer can then file a lawsuit and litigate your case in the court system.
What Causes Truck Rollover Accidents in the First Place?
A truck rollover accident happens when a tractor-trailer, big rig, or other large truck overturns in the roadway. These rollovers can happen for many different reasons, but driver negligence is one of the most common causes. In some instances, the truck driver might take a sharp turn too fast or speed down a steep hill, resulting in the rollover. At other times, the truck driver might be operating their vehicle too fast for the weather conditions, which might be rainy, snowy, or icy,
Truck rollover accidents can also happen when trucking companies and truck drivers fail to follow the necessary protocols when loading cargo onto a trailer. When trucking companies and their drivers fail to properly secure cargo to the trailer or fail to load it properly, a rollover accident can occur.
Truck rollovers also happen when a truck driver loses control over their truck and strikes an object in the roadway at a high rate of speed. For example, the driver might strike a concrete median strip while operating their vehicle at a high rate of speed.
Another common cause of truck rollover accidents is distracted driving. Distracted driving happens when a truck driver fails to give sufficient time and attention to the road. The driver might be making a phone call, sending a text message, or programming a GPS device while behind the wheel. Even when a truck driver turns their head away from the road for a second or two, that can be sufficient time for an accident to occur.
Finally, intoxicated drivers cause some truck rollover accidents. These substances may cause a truck driver to lose control of their vehicle or keep them from stopping their vehicle in time to avoid a collision. An intoxicated truck driver who strikes an object on or near the roadway at a high rate of speed can cause a rollover accident that leads to numerous injuries.
In addition to truck driver negligence, negligent trucking companies can indirectly cause or contribute to a truck rollover accident. Trucking companies must properly oversee trailer loading and unloading procedures—and supervise truck drivers to the greatest extent possible. Trucking companies are also responsible for making sure that they hire capable, skilled, and careful drivers. When a rollover accident is attributable to improper loading procedures or lack of supervision over drivers, the trucking company can be fully or partially to blame for any rollover accident and injuries that result.
Truck drivers and the trucking companies that employ them have a duty to act reasonably under the circumstances. When these individuals and entities violate the standard of care, they must pay for any injuries that result.
If you or someone you care about suffered injuries in a truck rollover accident, a skilled truck accident lawyer can determine your legal options and will work to get you the compensation you deserve.
What Can Occur When a Large Truck Rolls Over in the Middle of a Roadway or Intersection?
A truck rollover can occur just about anywhere, but these accidents are especially dangerous when they happen at traffic intersections—where traffic is moving in many different directions—and on busy, multi-lane highways where a lot of traffic is present. When a large truck rolls over at an intersection or somewhere else, it can stop traffic, forcing other vehicles to collide with it.
A series of multiple motor vehicle collisions in a short time can lead to a pile-up on the highway, resulting in numerous injuries and sometimes fatalities. The main danger associated with truck rollovers on busy highways is that the involved vehicles are typically moving at high rates of speed. When these vehicles must stop all at once, devastating and sometimes deadly after-effects can take place.
Common Injuries that May Result from a Truck Rollover Accident
The injuries that victims of truck rollover accidents sustain depend upon many different factors, including the speeds of the vehicles involved, the abruptness of the collision, and how the accident victim’s body moves in the car at the point of impact.
Sometimes, upon impact, the driver or passenger’s body can move from side to side—or forward and backward—very abruptly. At other times, some part of the accident victim’s body may strike something in the vehicle, such as the steering wheel, headrest, doorframe, or window, leading to a serious injury.
Some of the most common injuries that result from truck rollover accidents include spinal cord injuries, paralysis injuries, bone fractures, soft tissue injuries, and traumatic head injuries. Depending upon the force of the impact and the exact circumstances of the accident, one or more of these injuries can wind up being fatal.
If you or someone you care about has suffered one or more of these injuries in a truck rollover accident, seek emergency medical care as soon as possible after the collision. When you are at the emergency room, the doctor on duty can render emergency medical treatment if it becomes necessary. Also, see your doctor as soon as you can.
The medical providers can also take the necessary imaging studies to determine the severity of your injuries, such as by taking an x-ray to determine if you broke a bone. Finally, the emergency room physician can recommend follow-up treatment if they believe that it is necessary following your accident.
Seek emergency medical care following a truck rollover accident, even if you are not sure about the severity of your injuries. A relatively minor complication can turn into a severe injury if it goes untreated.
Moreover, if you later file a personal injury claim stemming from your truck rollover accident, the at-fault truck driver’s insurance company will become skeptical of your injuries if you wait too long to treat them. Therefore, you should seek same-day medical treatment following your truck accident, if possible. If you do not want to go from the accident scene to the hospital in an ambulance, you should ask a family member to drive you to the emergency room or urgent care center.
While you undergo treatment for your injuries, your truck accident lawyer can prepare your claim. Your lawyer, for example, can begin gathering up your medical treatment records to date, along with other important documents, such as lost wage information, police reports, and eyewitness statements. Once you have finished treating for your accident-related personal injuries, your lawyer can present a claim to the at-fault truck driver or trucking company’s insurer.
Responsibility for Truck Rollover Accidents and the Injuries that Result
Victims of truck rollover accidents who suffer various injuries have the legal burden of proof in any personal injury claim or lawsuit that they file. Specifically, they must demonstrate that the truck driver, trucking company, or some other party acted unreasonably under the circumstances.
In addition, the accident victim must prove that their injuries directly resulted from the accident. In addition to negligent truck drivers and the trucking companies that employ them, other potentially responsible entities can include a truck repair facility or even a truck parts manufacturer when a truck part malfunctioned and caused the rollover accident.
To prove that a repair facility negligently performed repair work or that a truck part was defective, the accident victim’s lawyer will typically need to introduce evidence including expert testimony. In addition, medical testimony can prove that an accident victim’s claimed injuries directly resulted from the truck rollover accident.
A knowledgeable truck accident lawyer at MNH Injury Lawyers can pursue a claim against all potentially at-fault parties and can help you prove the legal elements of your case. If the insurance company contests liability or fault, you have the option of litigating your case in the court system.
Pursuing Monetary Compensation and Damages Following a Truck Rollover Accident
If you can satisfy the various legal elements of your truck rollover accident claim, you can recover monetary compensation. First of all, you might pursue compensation for lost wages and other out-of-pocket expenses. To receive compensation, the expenses must relate directly to the truck rollover accident.
In addition to pursuing and recovering these economic damages, you might be eligible to recover noneconomic compensation for the injuries you suffered in your truck accident. Noneconomic damages can include compensation for inconvenience, emotional distress, mental anguish, pain and suffering, lost quality of life, and loss of the ability to use a body part.
In cases where a truck rollover accident stemmed from alcohol intoxication or some other type of egregious behavior on the part of the at-fault truck driver or trucking company, you might be eligible to recover punitive damages. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the at-fault person and to deter others from committing similar wrongful acts against others in the future.
Not all truck accident claims are the same, and the types and amounts of damages that accident victims can recover will vary from case to case—and from person to person. Generally speaking, the more severe the accident victim’s injuries and the more invasive the medical treatment, the higher the potential damages in the case.
A knowledgeable truck accident lawyer will advocate on your behalf and work to get you the maximum amount of compensation available to you. If the insurance company does not take your case seriously and fully compensate you for your injuries, your lawyer can litigate the case.
While you are dealing with serious injuries and stress, do not add more stress to your plate by handling your injury claims on your own. Seek help from a skilled truck accident lawyer with experience handling truck accident claims and protecting the rights of injury victims.
