Garbage trucks are a crucial part of the sanitary framework of any city. While these trucks help keep our streets and roads clean, they are also a major risk factor for catastrophic accidents that can involve cars, bicycles, motorbikes, or walking pedestrians. Since garbage trucks are large pieces of machinery, their momentum can cause fatal injuries to victims and can leave survivors with thousands of dollars in medical bills.
According to the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), garbage trucks were involved in over 1,400 vehicular crashes in 2010 alone, resulting in nearly one hundred fatalities. Although it is easy to dismiss these accidents as a negligible statistic, it is important to note that these accidents can happen to anyone, even you, and it is essential to take all the necessary steps to secure your legal rights if you are ever involved in such an accident.
Let us take a closer look at some of the biggest reasons behind garbage truck accidents.
Speeding
Speeding is one of the biggest reasons for traffic accidents worldwide, and garbage truck accidents are no different. While most professional trucking companies place speed limiters in their trucks to prevent such accidents from occurring, not all trucks benefit from such technological tools. Since garbage trucks are much larger than normal cars, they have a lot of momentum, which causes them to react slowly. It means that if a garbage truck is speeding, it is likely to end up crashing into another vehicle since the driver has less control of its speed.
Distracted Driving
Driving while talking on the phone, eating, or listening to loud music can divert the driver’s attention from the road and result in catastrophic vehicular accidents. Even a split second of inattention to the traffic ahead can result in car crashes that can prove fatal for one or both parties involved. Distracted driving accidents involving garbage trucks are arguably more dangerous as compared to other vehicles because of their sheer size and force of impact upon crashing.
Driver Fatigue
Like other truckers, garbage truck drivers follow tight schedules and long working hours that allow for very little break times. Working without breaks and getting inadequate sleep at night or during the journey at rest stops can cause the drivers to become fatigued, therefore significantly increasing the chances of traffic accidents. Due to inadequate rest, garbage truck drivers are more likely to sleep behind the wheel and put everyone on the road at risk of injury and death.
Overloading
Garbage trucks are heavy-duty machines that carry waste from multiple areas of a city. As a timesaving or cost-cutting measure, garbage truck drivers are more likely to overload their trucks. The trash can fall over while driving and not only physically damage vehicles on the road but also obscure other drivers’ view of the road ahead, therefore putting them at risk of crashing into the truck or other cars on the road. Such accidents can also happen if drivers fail to properly secure the load on the truck besides exceeding the capacity of the truck.
Conclusion
If you or your loved one got injured in a garbage truck accident, you can file a lawsuit against the parties responsible for your injuries and obtain physical, emotional, and financial damages. Hiring a competent Dallas truck accident lawyer from the reputable law firm Angel Reyes & Associates is one of the most important steps towards securing your legal rights and obtaining fair compensation for your injuries.
