Dangers of Truck Under-Riding

When one thinks of truck accidents, one typically envisions a careless truck driver falling asleep after a long stint at the wheel and plowing into another car. Rarely do people consider the dangers of the reverse — a passenger car driver falling asleep and merging under or driving under the trailer of a truck on the highway. Mocked as a harmless occurrence in the National Lampoon Vacation film, truck under-riding carries severe risks of death or injury and can be caused by little more than a few moments of carelessness.

Truck under-riding, ultimately, results from a combination of an unsafe truck and a driver error — whether that driver is the truck driver or car driver. Smaller cars are at a greater risk, but any car can be at risk due to the tremendous ground clearance of tractor-trailers. When the car becomes trapped underneath the truck, the car is subjected to substantial force. This force, and the intrusion of the trailer bottom onto the roof of the car, can result in death by decapitation, or paralysis due to spinal injuries. Closed-head brain injuries, including concussion, are also possible as a result of these accidents, as are severe lacerations and broken bones.

Although long-standing federal law requires trucks to possess a rear guard, often a bar located directly below the trailer’s rear bumper, many trucks on the road are not in compliance with even this basic safeguard. Furthermore, the trucking industry has shunned protection against side under-running accidents. The failure to protect against the possibility of under-running on both the back and sides leaves truck drivers and trucking companies liable for injuries and damages caused by these devastating accidents.

Recently, a jury in Texas awarded personal injury damages in the amount of $39 million in a case in which a trucker cut off a driver, causing a rear under-ride which killed the driver and paralyzed the passenger. New Jersey law reflects federal law in requiring rear guards against under-riding, however ultimately liability is decided in a court of law. A personal injury attorney can obtain fair compensation for victims of the trucking company’s negligence in allowing you or your loved one to be injured or killed as a result of their refusal to properly protect their trucks from the possibility of under-riding.