Truck accidents are catastrophic scenes, often involving the truck, and one or more smaller vehicles with multiple injury victims. As distressing as any truck accident scene may be, a rollover accident is often the most terrifying and traumatic. When a fully loaded truck weighing as much as 80,000 pounds rolls over, it causes massive destruction, particularly to motorists in standard-sized vehicles, typically weighing only around 4,000 pounds.
Trucks have a higher risk of rolling over than typical vehicles due to their tall heights and wheelbases that cannot widen enough to counteract the higher center of gravity due to lane size restrictions. Understanding rollover accidents, liability, associated injuries, and common damages in truck rollover accidents helps prepare accident victims for the claim process. If you were injured in a truck accident, make sure to speak with an experienced truck accident attorney in Everett.
What Causes Rollover Truck Accidents?
Large commercial trucks have high centers of gravity that make them more likely to tip under adverse circumstances. Common causes of truck rollover accidents include:
- Speeding around curves
- Improper braking
- Sudden swerves
- Failing to adjust speed for slippery road conditions
- Unbalanced loads or improperly secured loads that suddenly shift
- Overloaded trailers
- Defective tires
- Defective equipment or mechanical parts
Distracted driving and drowsy driving are common causes of truck accidents in Washington, including deadly rollover accidents.
Who Might Be Liable for Truck Accident Damages After a Rollover?
It takes many separate entities to put a fully loaded truck on the road and driven by a qualified, competent driver. Unfortunately, if even one of those parties fails to practice diligent adherence to FMCSA regulations and take all reasonable precautions, the result can be a devastating truck rollover accident. Investigations after a truck accident determine the cause of the accident and identify the at-fault party or multiple parties that contributed to the accident and can be held liable for damages. Common liable parties in truck accidents include the following:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company
- A freight loading company
- The manufacturer of a defective tire, brake system, or other parts
- A negligent truck maintenance or repair company
In less common cases, a third party could be liable for damages such as a negligent road maintenance company that failed to address a hazardous road condition, or a road planning agency for a poorly planned roadway or lack of adequate signage.
Common Injuries and Damages In Truck Accidents
When trucks roll over, they commonly cause collisions with one or more vehicles sharing the roadway, sometimes resulting in devastating accidents, including deadly underride accidents when a smaller car lodges beneath the trailer. Injuries in these accidents range from mild to catastrophic and fatal, with traumatic brain injuries, fractures, internal organ damage, soft-tissue injuries, burns, lacerations, and even traumatic limb loss. Injuries cause serious damages to victims including the following damages found in many Washington truck accident claims:
- Property damage
- Past and future medical costs
- Past and future income loss
- Diminished future earning capacity
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Compensation for other wide-ranging non-economic damages such as PTSD, disfigurement, organ loss, or loss of vision or hearing
If an individual suffers fatal injuries in a truck rollover accident, their immediate family may recover their financial losses and a sense of justice through a Washington wrongful death claim.
How Can a Truck Accident Attorney Help My Case?
Truck accident claims require substantial evidence proving liability and a carefully calculated list of damages to help the injury victim recover the maximum compensation available to them. Call the experienced Marysville injury attorneys at Wells Trumbull for the legal counsel you need to get results. Contact us for a free consultation.