Atlanta Trailer Accident Lawyers
When a car or small truck goes under a semi or trailer, it is called an underride accident. These can be the most serious crashes involving large trucks because the smaller vehicle's passenger compartment is often crushed or its top is torn off completely. Truck underride accidents are almost always fatal for occupants of the smaller vehicle.
They can occur in several ways:
- Poor visibility at night or in the rain can make it difficult to see exactly where the truck is (the technical term for this is conspicuity, meaning how conspicuous or visible the truck is). Poor visibility can also be caused by negligent maintenance of the trailer or improper lighting.
- A car driver may fail to see the truck turning across lanes until it's too late.
- A truck may not see a smaller vehicle in the lane next to it and may change lanes and run over the small vehicle.
- A vehicle involved in a multicar crash may get pushed under a truck in front of it.
If a loved one was hurt or died in a truck collision, contact a Columbus truck underride attorney at Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP, or call 800-233-4086 for a free case evaluation. Our personal injury lawyers have a proven record of success in securing top-dollar verdicts for our clients in wrongful death suits.
Investigating Truck Safety Failures
Federal regulations require the use of multiple caution lights and reflective devices to increase a truck's visibility. Reflective paint and reflective tape help other drivers see where the truck and trailer bed are in the dark, and they must be kept clean at all times. Reflective hazard signage must be used when trucks are pulled over to the side of the road so motorists don't drive into the rear of the parked vehicle.
Truck guards lower the rear bumper of the truck and/or trailer to prevent cars from going underneath, crushing the car or tearing off its roof. This one piece of safety equipment can be the key to preventing an underride and yet many trucks have not been equipped with a guard. That one failure can turn a relatively minor fender-bender into a fatal wreck.
Our trucking accident attorneys have decades of experience holding negligent trucking companies and truck drivers accountable for failing to follow federal regulations regarding reflective devices and proper lighting. We work with investigative experts and witnesses to determine how the accident occurred and whether safety equipment that should have been on the truck was missing.
We secured a significant settlement for the family of a man killed in an underride trucking accident. The truck was making an improper turn at night and blocking two lanes of traffic. Some of the lights were out and the trailer had no reflective tape so it was difficult to see. The elderly man drove into the back of the trailer.
Contact a Columbus Truck Underride Attorney
If a loved one has been killed in a fatal truck accident, contact an Atlanta underride accidents lawyer at Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP, or call 800-233-4086 to schedule a free case evaluation.
