Our Conroe truck crash attorneys continue this discussion from Part 1. In the initial distraught reaction after a serious truck crash, most injured victims do not think of the many parties that might have contributed to causing the wreck and their resulting injuries. But multiple people might have been involved in causing the sequence of events that led to the crash.
For instance, the truck’s route planner might have overlooked overpass heights, road weight limits, temporary blockages or detours, and other factors in preparing the route that the truck driver was supposed to follow in delivering his load to its destination. Our Conroe truck crash attorneys emphasize that the truck’s route planner is the person responsible for developing a safe route for the truck driver to follow to his assigned delivery point.
The truck route planner needs to know which routes prohibit truck traffic, which roads are off limits to trucks carrying hazardous cargos, and which routes remain zoned for specific truck weight limits. This trip planner needs to avoid routes with low overpasses that the truck can’t clear as well as bridges that are too narrow or too weak to carry the truck and its load.
A good truck route planner must absorb and update lots of information in order to do a proper job. The Conroe truck crash attorneys at Denena & Points note that continuous changes to the driving landscape because of construction detours, road repairs, natural disasters, and major accidents can make a truck route plan that was accurate one day into a route to be avoided today.
A trip route planning failure might result in a truck becoming trapped in a narrow tunnel, falling through a bridge inadequate for supporting its weight, or crashing into a low-hanging overpass. Such dangerous planning failures and the accidents resulting from them endanger not just the truck and its driver, but also the surrounding vehicles and pedestrians on and near the roads. A diligent accident investigation can help determine if a route planning failure played a role in causing your accident. If so, you can name the route planner and his employer to your lawsuit.
The truck route planner behind a flawed trip plan that led to a wreck could be a trucking company employee. Or the planner might be a third party contractor. And the truck driver also bears responsibility for reviewing any trip plan for accuracy before starting on his way.
The truck’s cargo loaders might also be at fault. A truck’s cargo needs to be evenly distributed, well balanced, and carefully secured with the truck in order to avoid causing problems while the truck is in transit. Our Conroe truck crash attorneys point out that regulations permit most 18-wheelers to carry up to 40,000 tons in cargo. If that weight isn’t properly balanced, it might fall or overbalance on a turn, a stop, a curve, or at speed. The imbalance could cause the truck to suddenly topple over, lose control, or up-end. The results can be deadly for any nearby drivers or pedestrians as well as for the truck’s driver.
And if the cargo handlers failed to adequately secure the cargo when they loaded it onto the truck, the cargo might suddenly spill out of the truck while it’s in transit. Whether the cargo suddenly obstructs the road, or falls directly onto nearby vehicles, it presents an unexpected and deadly hazard.
Conroe truck crash attorneys remind you that heavy cargo could crush other nearby vehicles sharing the road with the big rigs. Cargo falling suddenly into the roadway could result in massive collisions or in multi-vehicle pileups. And traffic authorities often must close the roads for long periods of time while cargo spills are cleaned away, inconveniencing and sometimes endangering other drivers confronted with an unexpected detour. Occasionally live cargo must be rounded up and captured.
Lost cargo lying in a roadway at night where it can’t be seen in time to be avoided can result in multiple casualties. Some cargo spills result in the evacuation of entire neighborhoods. If spilled cargo resulted in your truck accident losses, your Conroe truck crash attorney could help you track down the responsible parties so that you could hold them financial accountable for their costly negligence.
See Part 3 of this post for further discussion of other parties that might be financially liable for your accident injuries.