Truck Accidents

Commercial trucks and 18-wheelers are huge vehicles, weighing in at between 20,000 to 80,000 pounds, depending on its cargo. This massive size prevents truckers from being able to see every area around their cab and trailer, unlike drivers of passenger cars. The areas that truckers cannot see are called “blind spots,” and are dangerous for…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a high priority for the nation is ensuring that the nation’s supply chain functions properly. Many products are in short supply. There are many other shortages too such as not enough truck drivers and not enough people who can help with loading and unloading the products. These shortages are due to…

The causes of many truck accidents can be tracked back to negligent maintenance and upkeep of the vehicles. This is why safety experts who monitor the trucking industry emphasize the need for trucking carriers and their drivers to perform proper inspections of these rigs prior to and after trips, and to have proper repairs done…

In 2019, we wrote about a college student who was killed because of a missing $3 truck part. The story captured our attention because of its tragic nature, but also because it was an outlier: when you think of defective truck parts, washers don’t usually top the list. Most of the time, people assume it…

Trucking accidents are a frequent occurrence all across the country. Transportation companies often worry about their bottom line, which includes insurance costs. Liability leads to increased expenses for the company and driver, so it stands to reason that trucking companies aren’t quick to accept responsibility for damages or injuries. Victims driving passenger vehicles involved in…

Professional truck drivers transport equipment and products along the roadways and highways of Oklahoma on a daily basis. Although driving a commercial truck can be an excellent job and source of steady, dependable income, sometimes the occupation comes with an unwanted price. Many drivers extend themselves with long days and weeks on the road, which…

Underride guards are protective pieces of equipment that are regularly installed on trucks of various sizes. While some trucking companies feel it is necessary to install the underride guards for safety reasons, others fail to install the life-saving gear. Underride guards are typically composed of a metal material. It is common to have them installed…

People who watch lawyers present evidence before juries and watch them make closing arguments are just seeing the end of the litigation process. Most truck accident cases are won or settled due to the work done at the beginning and middle stages of the lawyer’s representation. Plaintiff lawyers need to be skilled at understanding the…

Oklahoma has numerous resources that require the aid of truckers to deliver these goods to the rest of the nation. In the same way, truckers deliver many necessary products to Oklahoma communities. While many truck accidents are related to the negligence of the trucker or the company he or she drives for, there are many…

Unfortunately, Oklahoma roadways are the scene of jackknife accidents involving big tractor-trailers all too often. These accidents on high-speed highways in particular can cause multi-vehicle pileups and serious injuries for many people involved. If you have sustained an injury in a truck jackknife crash due to the negligence of another party, you maybe be entitled…

A tragedy occurred in Mississippi when a Tulane University student was struck and killed by two truck tires while she was sitting at a rest stop. USA Today reported that the student was getting ready to get back into her vehicle when two tires which had come loose from a tractor-trailer rolled across the Interstate…

Commercial trucks are the lifeblood of communities and states. They help provide food, building products, machinery, and many other types of goods. Some trucks even deliver other vehicles. They transport hazardous materials. They pick up your trash. While trucks do provide valuable services, there are dangers. Truck accidents are often more dangerous than car accidents…

It doesn’t always matter how safe of a driver you might be; if the the drivers around you aren’t safe, then your chances of being in a crash increase. The most tragic accidents often involve trucks. These vehicles are long, wide, heavy and often haul hazardous materials. Their drivers have schedules to keep, and as…

Payne County Sheriff, R. B. Hauf, recently wrote an op-ed in News OK about the dangers of increasing the weight and/or length of commercial trucks. His concern, which he raised as the president of the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association and a member of the National Sheriffs Association Traffic Safety Committee, was in response to current lobbying…

The sheer size of big rig trucks gives them the potential to inflict devastating and even fatal injuries when they are involved in a collision. In 2016 alone, nearly 4,000 people in the U.S. died in large truck crashes. Some 17 percent of these fatalities were occupants of the truck itself, 16 percent were bicyclists,…

A train and truck collision on SW 29th St forced shutdowns of roads for days. The accident happened around 8:30 am on the morning of September 9th. The BNSF Railway train struck a truck. Fortunately, the driver of the truck was not severely injured, and the 60 passengers onboard the train were uninjured. No reason…

In 2016, truck accidents in Oklahoma injured or took the lives of 1957 people, according to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, Highway Safety Office. Of this number, 118 persons were killed in a crash involving a large truck, an 18 percent increase in fatalities from the previous year. But why? Driver errors is the…

According to ATBS, a business and accounting firm for the trucking industry, there are three basic myths about truck rollovers that drivers, the industry, and the public should understand. Rollovers are largely caused by bad driving conditions. ATBS claims that: Under four percent of truck rollovers are caused by poor roads 56% of truck rollovers…

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires that commercial drivers, as of December 2017, use Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) to track important data. The ELDs are similar to the black boxes used in airplanes, and help investigators understand how an Oklahoma truck accident happened. The devices replace written records and logs, which often weren’t…

Driver safety technology is evolving, and automakers and trucking companies are paying attention. By installing features like anti-lock brakes, lane drift warnings, blind spot detection, and other safety applications, cars and 18-wheelers should be getting safer. Unfortunately, fatalities continue to occur at an alarming rate on our nation’s roads and highways. In Oklahoma and throughout…

Truck rollover accidents can be some of the most deadly crashes on the highway. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) states that an average of four cargo tank truck rollovers happen every day in the United States. And, many of these incidents are preventable, as they occur due to driver negligence or poor truck…

When truck drivers are exhausted, yet continue to drive an 80,000-lb. machine along highways, everyone is put at risk – even the truckers themselves. The mission of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is to oversee the safety of our highways by governing commercial vehicles like trucks that transport good and busses that transport…