Due to their immense size and weight, commercial trucks can cause catastrophic injuries when they collide with smaller vehicles. Traumatic brain injuries, back and neck injuries, spinal cord injuries, and broken bones are common in truck accidents, and unfortunately, these accidents happen all too frequently in Minnesota. In 2016 alone, more than 4,000 truck crashes were reported by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. And in the aftermath of a serious truck wreck, accident victims are injured, frightened, and confused—they need the best possible medical and legal team to help them recover physically and financially.
Not All Truck Accidents Are the Same, but They All Cause Serious Injuries
Truck wrecks happen in many different ways, including:
- Rear-end collisions. Truck drivers must exercise reasonable care on the road. This means that truckers must maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them and anticipate that a car, motorcycle, or another vehicle may need to stop for traffic, for a red light or stop sign, to make a turn, or because there is something in the road. If a truck is following your vehicle too closely or if it is traveling at too great a speed to stop quickly and safely, the truck may hit your vehicle from behind and cause a serious crash.
- T-bone or side-impact accidents. These crashes often occur at intersections. If a truck doesn’t stop for a red light or stop sign, it could hit the side of your vehicle. The force of the broadside impact can cause your car to spin or cause a secondary crash to occur. As a result, you may be at risk of suffering serious injuries from the initial impact and any secondary impacts caused by the collision.
- Head-on collisions. A head-on truck collision occurs when a trucker crosses the center line and strikes the front of another vehicle. Most often, a frontal crash occurs when the driver is attempting to pass another vehicle and doesn’t allow enough time, or when the trucker is impaired in some way—drowsy, drunk, or drugged. A frontal crash with a large truck is terrifying for the occupants of smaller vehicles, and it often results in serious injuries and fatalities.
- Rollover accidents. Unbalanced cargo, speeding, or truck driver negligence can cause a truck to tip over onto its side. As the truck rolls over, it can land on another vehicle or cause a secondary crash as other vehicles stop short to avoid it.
- Underride accidents. These crashes occur when a car strikes the back or side of a truck and the impact forces the car to slide underneath. The front of the car crumples, and the roof is often sheared off by the impact, causing catastrophic injuries and fatalities.
- Blind spot or no-zone crashes. Truckers have significant blind spots—areas around their trucks that they can’t see. If a trucker fails to account for these blind spots when changing lanes or making other moves, a serious wreck can occur.
- Jackknife accidents. These types of truck accidents happen when the truck driver is driving too fast and then brakes quickly. The resulting skid causes the trailer to swing out and form a 90-degree angle with the cab. When a truck jackknifes, it may collide with another vehicle or cause other vehicles to crash as they try to avoid the jackknifed truck.
- Tire blowout accidents. Tire blowout accidents occur when a truck tire bursts and causes the driver to suddenly lose control and collide with nearby passenger vehicles. Secondary crashes may also occur if there are shreds of rubber or larger pieces of tire left in the roadway that other drivers must swerve to avoid.
- Lost-load accidents. Truckers are responsible for ensuring the cargo they are carrying is properly secured, but that doesn’t always happen. Unsecured cargo can unexpectedly come off a truck and hit other vehicles or land on the roadway, causing serious crashes.
- Hazardous cargo crashes. Trucks are regularly used to move hazardous materials such as gases, explosives, flammable liquids, poisonous materials, radioactive materials, and corrosive materials. Accidents with large commercial trucks are dangerous enough, but a crash with a truck carrying this type of cargo may be even more serious due to the risk of fire, explosions, and breathing in dangerous substances.
If you are injured in an accident with an 18-wheeler or another type of commercial truck in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, you need to know what to do next.
Get the Medical and Legal Help You Need Quickly After a Truck Crash in the Twin Cities
After a truck accident, it can be overwhelming to think about how you are going to get the medical help and legal assistance that you need, but reliable referrals to doctors and attorneys who can help are just a phone call away—just call 763-251-PAIN. Instead of trying to do all the research yourself, let the #1 resource for Twin Cities accident victims do it for you.
Contact us at 763-251-PAIN, and we’ll get back to you within an hour. We will provide you with the names of doctors and attorneys who have experience helping truck accident victims recover physically and financially, and you won’t owe them a thing until your claim is resolved. Call us today, and let us get you the help you need quickly.