While navigating your way to work on the road, you likely do your best to avoid close calls with other vehicles. People who don’t use their blinkers or adequately check before merging or turning can endanger others on the road, forcing drivers to be more proactive.
You likely pay even more attention to the large commercial vehicles that you encounter on the road than you do to passenger vehicle drivers, which is a reasonable practice. After all, while passenger vehicles do represent a larger total percentage of vehicles on the road, huge commercial trucks create unique dangers that can cause horrific crashes and completely change the course of someone’s life in a few seconds.
Days or weeks without transportation could cost you
Obviously, after a crash, both vehicles tend to have some damage. When one vehicle is substantially bigger than the other in a collision, the smaller vehicle typically suffers much more significant damage. Your vehicle may not be safe to drive until it has received repairs. In some cases, your vehicle may not be safe to take back out on the road ever again, particularly if there is structural damage to the frame or the axles as part of the crash.
Even the fastest insurance payout can take days or weeks, and that could mean not having transportation to get to and from your job. The longer it takes to pay your claim, the greater the risk of negative consequences from the damage to your vehicle. Many times, especially for those who drive luxury or late model cars, the full payout from the insurance company may not cover the cost of a replacement, but only a fraction of the total expense.
Truck collisions can cause debilitating injuries
The greater the damage to the vehicle protecting you, the greater the risk of severe injuries in a crash. When a commercial vehicle mangles your passenger vehicle, the result could be traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations or compound fractures that require surgery and therapy for a full recovery.
In some cases, total recovery is not an option, such as in the case of a brain injury or a complete spinal cord injury. You could wind up saddled with thousands of dollars in medical debt while simultaneously unable to return to work. That could mean months, years or a lifetime of financial hardship without adequate compensation.
You could lose someone you love in a commercial vehicle crash
Commercial vehicle statistics show that the rate of fatal crashes has reached the highest point in three decades. In 2018, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association recorded 4,678 fatalities as the result of commercial truck crashes, an increase of more than 1% from the year before.
While the 2019 statistics have yet to become publicly available, it is possible that the year produced another increase in total fatalities caused by commercial trucks. Losing a loved one can traumatize you and change the direction of your life while also leaving behind financial hardship.
Bringing a personal injury claim against an irresponsible commercial driver or their employer after a collision damages your vehicle, leaves you with injuries or kills someone in your family, can help you seek justice and mitigate some of the negative consequences the crash had on your life.