Common Causes Of Semi-Truck Accidents

1. Poor Training

Like every other profession, semi-truck drivers need proper training before they are inducted into the system. It should not be a peripheral training, but rather, a rigorous one that would put the drivers through all the necessary dos and don’ts of semi-truck driving on public roads.

Unfortunately, some semi-truck drivers do not possess the needed skill or certification to show they are qualified to drive the trucks. Most of these semi-truck owners just need cheap labor.

As a result, they prefer to employ cheap labor drivers who are not well-skilled and experienced, as long as they can drive. Since these drivers do not know much about the art of driving semi-trucks, they end up getting people injured in a semi-truck accident.

2. Defective Semi-trucks

Maintenance is vital to semi-trucks because they easily develop faults. Semi-trucks need proper handling and maintenance for the protection of lives and properties. This is why the owners are required to conduct a periodic maintenance test on the trucks before allowing them to ply roads.

Sadly, companies that make delivery through semi-trucks sometimes fail to inspect the trucks and do all the necessary maintenance before putting them on the road.

That means that not all the semi-trucks on the road are cleared or safe enough for driving, and to make matters worse, these trucks are now subjected to long hours of driving with little or no stops. Definitely, the result of this is usually a devastating accident.

On the other hand, if semi-trucks owners take due responsibility to keep their trucks in shape, accidents due to vehicle slip-ups like brake failure would significantly reduce.

3. Driving While Under The Influence

Alcohol and drugs are one of the prevalent causes of semi-truck accidents today. Often, semi-truck drivers are on the road for hours. It is easy to feel weak and tired during such a long journey. Not wanting to slow down and rest or not wanting to give up extra working hours, the drivers tend to use alcohol and hard drugs to stimulate self and stay active/energetic.

Due to overstimulation, alcohol, and drugs can cause their driving to become impaired. Since they are unable to think straight, their driving at those moments would be just as terrible.

Not only hard drugs and alcohol could have this disorienting effect on drivers. Medically prescribed drugs can also have disheveling symptoms, and driving in such circumstances can only cause more accidents on the high road.

4. Speeding and Overtaking

Due to the pressure to cover long distances in so little time and meet deadlines, semi-truck drivers have resorted to speeding and overtaking. Most times, the drivers are not cautious about their overtaking maneuvers.

This is because they mostly deal with smaller cars that they can easily overtake due to their size. In some cases, during the course of this takeover, the automobiles can suffer a collision or an auto crash.

One of the vehicles involved might swerve off the way or into another lane, which could lead to chains of an accident.  In a similar vein, over speeding puts all others on the road at risk. Why? Because the semi-truck driver is driving beyond the speed limit.

What makes over speeding an even weightier cause of accidents is that the semi-trucks are massive and weigh more than the other cars on the road.

5. Driver Fatigue

Driving a truck is stressful; this stress escalates even more if the truck is driven for extremely long hours or even days. Being on the road for an extended duration means that the driver does not get to sleep, eat well, or rest well.

These three factors can lead to fatigue, and with fatigue comes a lack of concentration and coordination. Driver fatigue is even scarier because the driver might start sleeping or dozing while driving. That itself is another disaster waiting to happen.

The issues attached to driver fatigue triggered the government to limit the hours a driver can travel before sleeping or taking a shift. Sadly, this regulation is not strictly followed by truck driver employers and the truck drivers themselves. This is another major reason why semi-truck accidents have continued to increase in recent times.

6. Distracted Driving

This is another causal factor of road accidents, not just semi-trucks. In fact, distracted driving has been declared as the number one cause of accidents nowadays. For some individuals, just picking up the phone to send or read a text while driving resulted in a fatal accident.

For others, it might be trying to find a radio station, picking up the phone to make a call, or any other activity that resulted in an accident that claimed lives and properties.

It is crucial for the truck driver’s eyes to remain totally focused on the road. This is why all drivers are advised to pull to the side before engaging in any activity.

For truck drivers that have been on the road for long hours and need something to keep them excited, they can still be helped. All the truck driver needs do is to pull to the side, select and play a radio station from the phone and then continue back on the road. These small efforts that seem mundane can help in reducing the number of accidents that occur yearly.

7. Weather and Road Condition

Weather and road condition are two other factors that can lead to accidents. While one is beyond what man can control, the other is the duty of man. Adverse weather conditions such as heavy rainstorms and snow, while a semi-truck driver is journeying, can lead to accidents. This is why the drivers are often advised to park the truck and wait out the weather before continuing. Because the road will be extremely slippery and may lead to an accident.

Besides, the weather could prevent the driver from seeing clearly, which could also lead to an accident. Sadly, some semi-truck drivers do not always apply this caution. The pressure to make deadlines and get to their destination fast can make them continue the journey despite the harsh weather, and this can easily result in a fatal accident.

Other factors like deplorable road conditions, particularly unpaved and pothole-ridden roads, have been declared as the root cause of several fatal and non-fatal accidents of recent times. One can only keep pleading with the government to remodel bad roads and make them motorable for all.

Conclusion

Accidents are bound to happen, but much can be done to reduce the numbers. Semi-trucks being large and heavy-weighted can wreak serious havoc on the road. The pressure of the profession, driver’s fatigue or stress, poor driver’s training, speeding, and overtaking are also other common reasons for semi-truck accidents. This is why various precautions must be taken to limit the accidents caused by semi-trucks and save lives and properties.