When assigning fault for a major vehicle collision, it is a common practice for people to immediately presume that one of the drivers involved must have the ultimate responsibility. In the vast majority of collisions, driver mistakes are indeed the primary contributing factor.
However, there are also circumstances in which factors outside of the control of an individual driver lead to a collision. For commercial truck drivers, their crash risk comes not just from their own driving practices but also from the way that their employer maintains their vehicles and how individual clients load the trailers that they haul. In some cases, improper loading is a direct contributing factor to a tip-over incident, which could potentially cause a major crash.
Commercial trucks are heavy, but that doesn’t mean that they’re invulnerable
For many people, the idea of a rollover involves a personal vehicle, like an SUV. However, commercial trucks have some of the same risk factors that contribute to rollovers in smaller vehicles. They are wide and tall, which means that the wind can exert significant influence on their movement. They also make wide turns, which might increase the potential for items improperly loaded in to the trailer to shift and move the center of gravity in the truck.
Individuals who get hurt in crashes caused by commercial vehicles should look at all of their options for compensation. This might include taking action against a company that improperly loaded a vehicle, rather than just the driver who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
