Why Trucks Driving in Bad Weather Could Constitute Negligence

This video features Brian Davis, a Personal Injury attorney based in North Carolina.

Attorney Brian Davis | 888-592-5071 | Free Consult

“This is not just a normal motor vehicle crash case. This is a complex case that needs expertise in trucking law.”

Rain, snow, sleet, and ice are just a few elements that can create potentially hazardous conditions for anyone on the road and especially for big-rig truck drivers. So why do we see so many trucks driving in bad weather?

To learn more, we spoke with truck accident lawyer Brian Davis, an injury attorney with Davis Law Group, P.A. in Asheville, North Carolina. He says that profit is a motivator for keeping trucks on the road—even if it defies safety regulations.

To learn more, contact the attorney directly by calling 888-592-5071 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Key Takeaways From Brian Davis:

Hazardous conditions is a term that can encompass many aspects which could negatively affect a truck driver’s safety on the road. Anything that may affect the driver’s visibility or traction of the vehicle is considered hazardous and if ignored can result in extraordinarily dangerous situations.

Rules are in place to prevent big rig’s from driving under hazardous conditions.

Section 392.14 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations demands truck drivers use extreme caution when caught in hazardous conditions. For a big rig, this usually means slowing by half of their standard speed. However, many drivers choose not to follow this regulation, and can often be seen flying down the road, passing standard passenger cars even under rainy or icy conditions.

The majority of big-rig crashes occurring under hazardous conditions are due to operator error.

Unfortunately, most big-rig crashes that occur during hazardous conditions cannot be attributed to anything other than operator error/driver negligence, so it’s important to be cautious when sharing the road with one of these vehicles. The safest assumption when sharing the road with anyone else is that the other vehicles likely won’t respond to a given situation the way they should. This awareness can prepare you to respond quickly if a big-rig or another vehicle begins to behave oddly or appears to lose control under hazardous conditions.

Big-rigs can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, making it much harder to slow down or stop, especially in hazardous conditions.

Due to the sheer mass of the vehicle and the increased amount of time it takes for them to slow even in ideal conditions, if a driver is missing visibility or traction, slowing/stopping the vehicle becomes extremely difficult and often unsafe.

Profit is a common way of motivating truck drivers to usurp safety rules.

When the choice of profit over safety is made, people’s lives are at risk. Unfortunately, drivers are not the only entities making the choice to stay on the road and increase profit rather than avoiding hazardous conditions in favor of safety. Trucking companies are often guilty of encouraging and even requiring their drivers to violate safety regulations in order to keep the trucks moving and money coming in.

If you were involved in an accident with a big-rig, contact an attorney right away.

It’s important to contact a lawyer as soon as possible after an accident like this. Most lawyers who handle these types of cases handle them on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t pay a penny until/unless your attorney is able to recover money for you. Most trucks contain technology that tracks the driver’s actions at different times, important evidence that could be erased or destroyed if an attorney is unable to preserve it in time.

It’s also important to seek medical treatment right away, even if symptoms of an injury have not yet shown up. It can sometimes take days or even weeks to feel an injury. A good attorney will encourage you to focus on recovering your health while they work to get you the compensation you deserve. It’s essential to find a lawyer with expertise in trucking law if you or a loved one have been injured in an accident with a big rig.

To learn more, contact Brian Davis directly by calling 888-592-5071 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

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