Texas truck driver Jim Harville of Waskom, 56 years old, died Wednesday in a tragic head on truck crash caused by a Louisiana trucker’s reckless driving. Sheriff’s deputies cited Larry D. Gatson II of Shreveport for reckless driving and following too closely. (Source: Associated Press, 6/21/2012.)
Larry Gatson, driving for Frac Tech International Services in a convoy trucking oil field equipment, rear-ended the company’s tractor-trailer ahead of him. That crash caused the truck ahead of Gatson to veer into the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 79 and impact head on with Mr. Harville’s rig. Larry Gatson received serious injuries from the truck crash caused by negligent, reckless driving. But it was Mr. Harville who paid the ultimate price.
A tractor-trailer in motion has tremendous momentum and requires some distance to stop. The faster the truck’s speed, the more space needs to be maintained between the truck and the vehicle ahead of it in order for the truck to be able to avoid a rear-impact crash in the event it needs to stop or slow suddenly.
Responsible truckers know to always keep a safe distance between themselves and the vehicles ahead of them, to observe a safe speed in relation to traffic, and to keep their attention on the road in case drivers ahead of them slow or stop suddenly.
As this tractor-trailer collision on U.S. Highway 79 reveals, a rear-impact crash can cause the driver of the impacted vehicle to lose control and the vehicle to veer off course. A moment of recklessness or inattention in the following driver can injure not just the drivers and occupants of those two vehicles, but other innocent parties as well.
You could help protect yourself from injury by maintaining safe speeds on the road, avoiding distractions while behind the wheel, and following the vehicles ahead of you at safe distances. For passenger cars, the traditional rule is to add one car length of distance for each additional 10 mph you add to your speed. Of course, maintaining a safe gap between vehicles is not always possible in heavy traffic. Other rushed drivers will just jump into the gap you create. But in those situations, it’s more important than ever to keep your focus and reduce your speed.
To learn what you could do to protect your rights and interests in the event you suffer injury in a truck collision, feel free to download our book on the essential steps you need to take to make a successful truck accident claim. The book is available free on this web page for your convenience. Just click and download.