Motor vehicle accidents involving an 18 wheeler weighing up to 80,000 pounds means serious injury for any smaller vehicle. These are the most serious and deadly motor vehicle accidents in the United States and account for a large portion of all fatal traffic accidents.
Over 2,000,000 tractor trailers are registered to drivers in the United States and they are regulated by specific federal and state laws and regulations. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (Title 49, Parts 350-399) governs all interstate carriers and has been adopted additionally by states to govern intrastate travel.
Truck accidents may involve pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycles, cars or even other trucks. The insurance rules are different in each case but a truck involved in interstate commerce is required to have a minimum of $750,000 in liability insurance and sometimes even more. For example, in hazardous materials are being transported, Federal Law requires larger limits of liability insurance coverage.
While your Chicago Personal Injury Attorneys at Grazian and Volpe applaud and promote adherence to all Federal and State Law regarding the safe and prudent operation of trucks we caution our clients that 88 percent of all crashes studied involved a tired truck driver driving a poorly maintained truck or conversely the other driver doing the same. This means there are a good deal of very tired truck drivers who may be driving longer time periods than permitted and/or neglecting to maintain the truck according to State and/or Federal laws and regulations. A tired driver is a dangerous driver and when a tired driver is driving a poorly maintained vehicle, a motor vehicle accident is inevitable.
The South Chicago Accident Attorneys at Grazian and Volpe have settled many truck accident lawsuits in their 26 years of practice in Illinois and South Chicago. While verdicts are large and compensation full, we would prefer that our clients be wary of driving in the vicinity of trucks by endeavoring to drive primarily in the daytime(when it is less likely that a driver is fatigued); avoiding the blind spot of any truck and yielding to avoid an aggressive or speeding vehicle. Also beware of any trucks that are in the process of backing up. It is always better to stay safe, but if you can’t stay safe, stay with Grazian and Volpe.
