Imagine the sheer size of the 18 wheeler truck, accident involving this won’t only cause catastrophic injuries, but also huge damage to properties, not to mention the great life-threatening risk it posed to the life of everyone involved and the enormous financial loss.
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Why it matters?
Perhaps, you are reading this article because you are a truck owner, a driver of this vehicle, or a person who is hiring the services of this truck. However, You are not the only person who is interested in this topic, as it includes everyone who values his/her life and all the people who travel on the same road with a truck. If you are already involved in an accident, make sure to hire the best attorney for an 18 wheeler case.
Although manufacturers are doing their best to add features that will minimize the risk of an accident, lawmakers are also in constant vigilance and ready to enact another law to enhance road safety but still accidents do happen. If you are looking for the best way to reduce the risk of accidents involving this truck, first you need to know the common causes, this information will help you to formulate action.
The following are the 5 most common causes of 18 wheeler accidents
Overworked/Tired Drivers
Img source: CNN.com
Some companies push their drivers too much to meet the quota to add more profit. Companies put their drivers to unreasonable schedule and if there is high demand, that prevents their driver to rest more. This will lead to exhaustion and fatigue and the driver might unintentionally sleep behind the wheel or prone to make mistakes. These companies are endangering the lives of the driver and other drivers on the road.
Distracted Driver
Img source: mpi.mb.ca
We have a lot of news in this case, where a driver got into an accident while he/she is using a cell phone on the road, if you are still doing this, you are putting your life and life of another driver at risk. It’s the basic in driving lesson that you need your eyes and focus on the road, an 18 wheeler truck is a big machine that is not easy to control and have a lot of blind spots, the driver must have 100% concentration.
Overweight or Unbalanced Truck Loads
Img source: dglobe.com
This condition might cause tire-blowout and rollover. Also, this situation makes the truck harder to control because the weight might shift to the rear when driving uphill or downhill and it makes more difficult to slow down and stop.
Inadequate Training
Img source: park.ca
Of course, some countries have a law that required the driver to obtain first the regular license before they can get the 18 wheeler truck driving license. Unfortunately, some training school will only require the driver to spend 5 days to familiarize the machine and the rest will be taught by experience. We all know that one mistake can have a devastating result. Inexperience and lack of training can definitely cause an accident.
Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
The accident caused by DUI happens all the time even in regular vehicles. Furthermore, in our days almost all drivers know that driving under the influence of any illegal substance can lead to an accident, the problem is people still doing it despite the risk and law that prohibited it.
Conclusion
If we take into consideration the common causes of the accident, we can formulate a method to avoid it and minimize the risk of an accident. We need to do it not only to protect our lives, but also the lives of other drivers.
