Operating a commercial truck can be very difficult. Commercial trucks are large and heavy because they are meant to transport large amounts of cargo or passengers. Therefore, they take a long time to come to a stop. To make sure that your commercial truck is able to come to a stop, the commercial truck driver must make sure that their brakes are in good working condition.
Truck Drivers are Required to Maintain Their Brakes
To make sure that a commercial truck is safe to drive, commercial brakes need to be inspected more often than the brakes of passenger vehicles. In some cases, a commercial truck driver needs to pull their vehicle over to the side of the road to make sure that the brakes are serviced so they can then operate their vehicle safely.
If a commercial truck driver fails to properly service their brakes, they will be held responsible for any accidents that then occur as a result of the driver not being able to stop on time. Therefore, the truck driver might be at fault even if their brakes fail.
Truck Drivers Must Brake Sooner
How the truck driver operates the vehicle also matters. Drivers should not drive while fatigued because they are more likely to not realize that they need to slow down until it is too late. They also should not be distracted. Truck drivers who are traveling too fast will also not be able to react quickly enough and the brakes won't be able to bring the vehicle to a stop.
What to Do After a Commercial Truck Accident
Because of the size of commercial trucks, they often cause serious injuries, and fatalities are very common. Therefore, a commercial insurance policy will often have much higher policy limits so that they can cover their policyholders if they are involved in expensive lawsuits involving their vehicles.
However, the commercial insurance provider will not want to fully compensate you for your injuries unless they are forced to. This is done primarily to protect the bottom line of the insurance provider and also because they have the right to protect themselves against fraudulent claims.
Therefore, you will need evidence so you can submit a strong claim that is likely to be accepted by the commercial insurance provider. It's difficult to accomplish this without the help of a trucking accident attorney. An experienced attorney will be able to use the law to build a solid claim.
To learn more, contact a trucking accident attorney in your area