The NHTSA specializes in studying traffic safety and fatalities. Its research indicates that around 2/3 of all heavy truck occupants that die in accidents die from rollover crashes. The NHTSA notes in the announcement of a research study on truck ESC systems that rollover crashes and loss-of-control accidents involving heavy trucks also cost millions of dollars annually in lost productivity and excess energy consumption for the traffic snarls they cause. The NHTSA does not note the tremendous annual cost in lives and debilitating accident injuries to other victims besides the truck occupants.
The NHTSA Heavy Vehicle Research study on Rollover and Stability Control seeks to learn the benefits and limitations of ESC technology, including roll and yaw stability control). The premise behind ESC technologies involves computer calculations from sensor input data that can sense an imminent loss of stability and take corrective and preventative action far more quickly than a human driver. A concurrent premise involves the assumption that by the time the human driver senses the imminent disaster and tries to take corrective action, it’s far too late for the action to help.
Existing data shows that ESC systems highly benefit occupants of SUVs and passenger cars, and that the ESC systems prevent a high number of potentially fatal accidents. Heavy trucks do not yet use ESC systems in the same proportion as SUVs and passenger cars, but ESC systems will soon be required safety equipment in all heavy trucks. If the ESC systems prove reliable, that might prevent some of the heavy truck rollover crashes we see in the news on an almost daily basis. But existing truck ESC systems aren’t always reliable. Daimler Trucks just announced a recall on thousands of its trucks because of a dangerous defect in their ESC systems.
If you’ve been injured in a rollover crash involving a heavy truck, you already know how disastrous a loss of truck stability can be. Your own injuries could be catastrophic, requiring a lifetime of medical care. You may have lost family to the heavy truck accident. No matter what caused the truck to lose control, you need the financial compensation you could obtain from a successful personal injury or wrongful death claim. To obtain needed financial compensation, you must correctly identify the liable parties behind the cause of your accident, and locate and secure the proof you’ll need to prove their exact roles in causing your injury.
Feel free to call on us in your time of need. Your initial legal consultation is entirely free, and it could help answer your urgent questions about the best legal direction to take following your accident. We are Board Certified Clear Lake, TX personal injury attorneys with the specialized legal knowledge and high-level litigation experience you would need to win your claim. Texas Board Certified Clear Lake, TX personal injury attorneys represent the top tier of the profession; we’re the ones with proven client commitment and the successful trial outcomes that Board Certification requires. So call today. You have nothing to lose; and deserved financial compensation to gain.