Missouri Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer
Truck Accidents Come in All Shapes. They Are All Serious.
For more than a quarter century, the law firm of Humphrey, Farrington & McClain has protected the rights of people injured in accidents caused by truck driver and truck company negligence. In those 25 years, we have represented victims who have suffered catastrophic injuries or lost a loved one in truck accidents involving semi-tractor trailers and commercial vehicles in Missouri, Kansas and the United States.
The causes of truck accidents are many and varied, but the results are nearly always devastating to the victims. In 1999, the U.S. Congress established the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) separate from the Department of Transportation. The role of the FMCSA is to protect the safety of truck drivers while ensuring equipment and driving practices provide maximum safety protection for other drivers and passengers sharing the road. To be effective, the FMCSA has various divisions responsible for tracking the types of truck accidents.
In 2008, the most common types of truck accidents included:
- Brake failure while descending a hill: 18-wheelers and heavy construction equipment require cool breaks that are in good working condition. The brake pads must be replaced or the disks resurfaced after a certain number of hours on the road. One of the leading causes of truck accidents is insufficient braking power to overcome the gravitational forces pulling a vehicle weighing several tons down a hill.
- Illegal lane changes and under-ride accidents: Peripheral visibility from inside a truck cab is very difficult, particularly from the height of the driver's seat. Visibility to the rear of the trailer is impossible. Every year, thousands of truck accidents occur when the truck driver changes lanes and squeezes a passing car or truck off the road. In heavy traffic, small passenger cars have nowhere to go except under the carriage of the trailer.
- Jackknife and rollovers: Large semi-tractor trailers have a high center of gravity. Load imbalance can make this problem even worse. Once a big rig starts moving sideways in a skid, it is easy for the load weight to overcome all efforts on the part of the driver. The brakes stop the wheels from moving forward. Nothing stops the top load.
- Head-on collisions: Meeting a semi-truck on a narrow two-lane road is every driver's nightmare. In many cases, the truck driver simply cannot move over without putting a wheel in the ditch. Head-on collisions are often the most catastrophic and deadly, as the vehicles meet at full force.
- Pull-outs and blind spot accidents: Truckers trying to pull heavy, slow vehicles into speeding traffic often take risks, expecting the oncoming traffic to see them and make way. From high up in the cab, the visibility is often poor and mistakes are made as to distance and speed.
- Wide Turns: By their sheer size, 18-wheel trucks require a wide berth to make turns. Too often, an inexperienced truck driver misjudges the distance and requires too much road, often pulling the cab into oncoming traffic as it swings wide to complete the turn.
If you or a loved one has been in a truck accident, do not assume anything. Talk to an experienced attorney at Humphrey, Farrington & McClain to schedule a free consultation.
From our offices in Independence, Missouri, our lawyers represent clients throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area, Missouri, Kansas, and the United States.
Contact us to arrange a free consultation.
