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Understanding the Complexities of Tanker Truck Accidents
Imagine the chaos and devastation of a tanker truck collision.
Thousands of gallons of hazardous materials spilled across the highway, vehicles crushed like tin cans, and lives changed forever in an instant.
The unique devastation these big trucks can cause in a wreck is shocking.
The aftermath of these catastrophic accidents can leave victims and surviving family reeling and overwhelmed.
We are here to help.
At Lawsuit Legal, our experienced tanker truck accident lawyers are ready to fight for the justice and compensation you deserve.
Truck crashes like this give rise to highly complex and specialized legal matters that require personal injury lawyers operating at the highest level to achieve the best possible outcome.
Don't let the trucking companies and their insurers push you around - contact us today for a free case evaluation and let us put our unique expertise to work for you.
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TANKER ACCIDENT FACT PATTERNS
"Large trucks, blind spots, and drivers in a hurry to finish their route are a recipe for disaster..."
Why are Tanker Trucks so Dangerous?
- Increased risk of explosions and fires
- Potential for widespread environmental contamination
- Sloshing fluid causes vehicle instability
- Higher likelihood of multi-vehicle accidents
- Greater difficulty in emergency response and cleanup
- Greater chance of catastrophic damage to smaller passenger vehicles and their occupants
The large size of these trucks and the materials they transport pose unique risks to other motorists in an accident. The danger of tanker truck accidents extends beyond the initial incident due to the unique challenges they present to emergency responders. Responders must quickly identify the transported substance, assess its hazards, and implement appropriate containment strategies.
Understanding the Complexities of Tanker Truck Accidents
Tanker truck accidents lead to devastating consequences on our roads.
I've seen firsthand the devastating consequences of these crashes.
Crashes involving these massive vehicles, often carrying hazardous materials, can lead to multiple injured parties, substantial damage, and fatalities.
The resulting lawsuits are complicated matters that can involve complex liability and insurance laws.
Multiple factors can lead to a tanker truck causing an accident.
Driver fatigue is commonly responsible, as one small miscalculation from an operator trying to control these 80,000-pound vehicles can lead to disaster.
However, each case is unique, and equipment malfunction, improper loading, improper maintenance, inclement weather, and hazardous road conditions can all play a causal role.
Spilled cargo, explosions, and resulting fires can create a toxic environment, endangering not just those involved in the crash, but entire communities.
Legal liability can be a challenging knot that needs to be unraveled on multiple levels.
These cases often involve multiple injured parties and multiple people suing the liable parties.
You need a legal team that has experience with these specialized cases if you have been injured in an accident involving a tanker vehicle.
Potential defendants can include:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company
- The cargo shipper
- Vehicle manufacturers
- Manufacturers of defective parts
- Government entities responsible for road maintenance
To obtain the best possible outcome, you need a legal expert who understands the unique complexities of tanker truck accidents. Our truck accident attorneys have a proven history with these special cases and will help you navigate the legal process to obtain the compensation you deserve.
A Complicated Web of Liability
Tanker accidents can involve multiple victims, multiple liable parties, and pose a daunting legal challenge for the average car accident lawyer.
Common Causes of Tanker Truck Accidents
The majority of truck accident cases we encounter are caused by driver fatigue, human error, and/or reckless behavior. That being said, each case is unique, and during the investigation, causations can commonly include:
- Driver Error: This can include speeding, impaired driving, misjudging turns, and distracted driving. Driver fatigue is often a contributing factor to truck driver errors that result in collisions. Trucking companies may be liable for a crash when they don't properly train drivers, conduct regular safety inspections, or set realistic deadlines for drivers.
- Regulatory Non-Compliance: Trucks transporting hazardous materials operate under strict regulations and safety requirements. A failure to comply with these regulations is a common causal factor.
- Improper Loading: The weight distribution in tankers is critical for safe operation. Overloading, or uneven distribution of weight can increase the risk for rollovers and make the vehicles difficult to control. Sloshing liquids inside a tanker makes these vehicles especially unstable. Overloading the tank with excess fluids can cause the weight distribution to slosh violently during operation and cause jackknifes and rollovers.
- Mechanical Failures: Brake failures in heavy vehicles like this can cause devastating strikes on passenger vehicles. Tire blowouts, steering problems, and improper maintenance can cause the vehicle to be uncontrollable and result in a crash.
- Road Conditions: Dangerous road conditions including sharp turns, steep inclines, and potholes pose risks to tanker trucks. Inclement weather including heavy fog, rain, snow, and low visibility conditions can increase the risk for accidents.
- Third-Party Negligence: The negligent actions of other drivers can cause tankers to crash. Sudden stops, swerving vehicles, and traffic violations of other motorists can lead to emergency maneuvers to avoid a collision that can have catastrophic results for heavy vehicles.
- Traffic Violations: Violating the traffic laws by the truck driver can lead to collisions on the road. Running a red light, a failure to yield, or attempting an improper turn without ensuring the safety of other motorists are all common causal actions uncovered during investigation.
- Blind Spot Accidents: Tankers can have large blind spots and drivers that fail to turn their head to check risk vehicle strikes when changing lanes, making turns, and backing up.
If you or someone you love has been hurt and a tanker was involved, contact Lawsuit Legal now for a free legal consultation to learn your legal options. Our legal team will investigate what happened and help you uncover who may be responsible for what you went through.
Why You Need a Specialized Tanker Truck Accident Lawyer
A tanker accident is a serious matter that can often result in people being killed and substantial property damage. The accident lawyers at Lawsuit Legal have a proven history of handling even the most complex cases and can handle the legal complexities you face.
Expertise in Federal and State Trucking Regulations
Our legal team has understands the federal and state regulations tanker drivers must comply with for road safety and reliability. A failure to comply with the regulations can be pivotal to establishing liability in a lawsuit. The transport of dangerous cargo is heavily regulated. Driver logs and records from the trucking company and repair facilities must be scrutinized to uncover actions that may have contributed to the accident.
Experience Handling Complex Insurance Claims
These cases involve special insurance and can involve multiple insurers. The trucking companies and insurers will put up strong opposition to claimants and look to minimize their financial exposure however they can. From sending crisis teams to the accident scene to disappearing evidence, your attorney needs to be practicing at the highest level to ensure the best possible outcome.
Knowledge of the Trucking Industry and its Practices
Familiarity with the trucking industry and how it operates is key to unraveling the potential chain of liability. We understand the challenges truckers face and how the industry works. Put our expertise and experience to work on your behalf, let our personal injury lawyers help protect your rights and fight to get you paid as much as possible as fast as possible.
Ability to Investigate and Reconstruct Accident Scenes
In a tanker truck disaster, investigating the accident scene and securing evidence is critical. Investigating catastrophic truck accidents poses unique challenges. The opposing parties know what is at stake, records and evidence that could help your case tends to go missing if not secured quickly. Our law firm is standing-by to start work immediately to preserve crucial evidence and understands what you are up against.
Important: Due to their large size and dimensions, tanker trucks are difficult to maneuver, hard to slow down, and require a skilled driver to operate safely.
Compensation You May Be Entitled To
If you've been hurt in a crash involving a tanker truck that wasn't your fault, you are entitled to compensation for your financial losses. Even minor collisions with these large tankers can cause severe injuries to victims in much smaller passenger vehicles. The personal injury laws entitle you to seek compensation for all crash-related losses.
This can potentially include monetary compensation for the following damages:
- Medical expenses (current and future)
- Lost wages and loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage
- Punitive damages in cases of gross negligence
- Wrongful death
Injury cases involving heavy vehicles commonly result in severe injuries resulting in substantial medical expenses for treatment. Victims can suffer life-altering harm that can be disabling and pose the need for life-long care. Accident victims can seek to claim compensation for hospital bills, rehabilitation, physical therapy, and ongoing medical care caused by the accident.
A winning verdict or large settlement can provide financial relief and financial security to your family while you focus on recovery.
Tanker Explosion Injuries & Wrongful Death
Wrecked fuel tankers can explode with devastating consequences to any nearby motorists. A potential explosion can affect motorists not directly involved in the fuel tanker crash. Because tankers often carry fuel and other dangerous liquids, the chance of a spill or explosion after an accident is high. This can lead to grave injuries not typically encountered in a car accident.
- Chemical Burns
- Smoke Inhalation
- Burn Injuries
- Radiation
- Barotrauma & Blast Injuries
- Paralysis & Death
Direct or indirect exposure to an explosion can cause unique physical trauma. Blast injuries can result in a variety of complications, including damage to internal organs and soft tissue, injuries to the brain, and internal bleeding.
Fuel tankers are among the most dangerous vehicles on the road due to the instability of the fluids they transport. Baffles can help reduce excess sloshing of the liquids in the tanker, but the risk of rollovers and jackknifing incidents remains high.