Truck accidents in Florida continue to rise. One of the reasons this is happening is that trucking companies, as well as truck drivers, are under more pressure than ever to make their deliveries on time. When they cut corners, such as failing to properly maintain their equipment, accidents are inevitable. Another reason, however, is that manufacturers will sometimes produce defective products that can fail at the absolute worst time. This can lead to a horrible collision.
If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a defective part, The Eberst Law Firm is ready to help. Our firm has a team of truck accident attorneys who will do everything they possibly can to help you obtain the compensation you deserve. Please use our online form or give us a call at 1-888-CALL-JON for a free consultation to learn more.
Semi-Truck Accidents Caused by Mechanical Failure or a Defective Part
It can be unnerving enough to have to share the road with an 80,000-pound commercial truck. When a motorist notices that a tire on a truck has blown out, or it can’t stop because the brakes have failed, that can be terrifying.
There are a lot of reasons that truck accidents occur. Most of the time, it’s because a truck driver violated Federal regulations by being behind the wheel while fatigued. Or they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. But trucking company (and, in some cases, driver) negligence can also lead to accidents. They may choose not to perform regular maintenance on critically important components. This increases the likelihood that they’ll fail.
In other instances, the manufacturers of truck components can make products that fail long before they should because they were defective. The following is a closer look at some of the parts of a truck that can fail, either due to a lack of maintenance or a product defect.
Common Causes of Mechanical Failure
If a truck can’t stop, of course, that leads to disaster. The braking system can fail when the trucking company and/or the driver neglect their duty to ensure the brakes work at all times. There are many types of problems that are obvious. These include thinning brake pads, worn brake discs, brake line problems, and others.
A truck’s transmission may also be at a risk for failing if the rig is overloaded. This is potentially another example of negligence. When tires aren’t regularly rotated, or their air pressure or tread level aren’t checked, they can easily blow out while the truck is in transit.
When the people responsible for a truck’s safe operation fail to perform even the most basic maintenance tasks, the results are often tragic.
Common Defective Parts
There are other times where a truck accident isn’t due to negligent maintenance, but rather a product defect. Here are a few examples.
Tires
If a company produces a tire with either a design or manufacturing defect, and that tire leads to an accident after failing, the company could be considered liable for contributing to that accident.
Brakes
Trucks have a hard enough time stopping with perfectly functioning brakes. They’re so heavy, it takes a long time for the brakes to be able to slow the truck down. If the brakes are defective, that could result in a truck slamming into the back of a passenger vehicle. Or a semi truck being involved in a rollover accident.
Steering
It used to be that drivers needed to be incredibly strong in order to be able to turn a truck’s steering wheel. This is from the time before power steering was invented. Those days are long gone. However, if one of today’s huge commercial rigs suddenly loses its power steering – whether due to a product defect or negligent maintenance – the truck can be impossible to control.
Who is Liable for a Truck Accident Caused by a Defective Part?
Most of the time, the company that produced a defective part will be held liable should that component fail and cause an accident. There are times, however, that the company that manufactured the truck could be liable as well. Especially if they used a part they knew could cause problems.
But how do you go about proving that a product defect caused the accident that injured you? The trucking company’s insurance carrier isn’t going to write a check because it’s the right thing to do. In fact, it’s probably going to fight you at every turn. They’ll claim that you’re actually to blame. Not their client.
You need hard proof that the failure of a negligently manufactured part directly led to the accident. In order to get that proof, you’re going to need to hire an attorney who has experience in these kinds of cases. That attorney should have the resources and knowledge needed to perform a detailed investigation into the accident. That’s the only way you can obtain the evidence needed to prove your case. And to force the insurance company to offer full, fair compensation.
Contact Eberst Law Firm if You’ve Been Involved in a Truck Accident
The Eberst Law Firm has the experience, resources and skill it takes to give you the best possible chance of getting every penny you deserve. We know how to investigate a truck accident. And we can determine what kind of role a defective part may have played. Our attorneys can obtain trucking logs as well as so-called “black box” data that can help show exactly what happened to cause the accident.
There are other ways of obtaining evidence as well. For example, the wreck may have been captured by a nearby surveillance camera. We can obtain that footage to see if it provides clues as to any sort of mechanical failure that could have caused the truck driver to lose control. We can also contact any witnesses who may have seen what happened, and obtain the police report.
In addition, we will also know exactly how much money to demand from the negligent party (or parties) insurance providers.
Hiring an attorney should be one of the first things you do if you’re involved in a truck accident. We hope you choose our firm to represent you. Get in touch with The Eberst Law Firm by using our online form or calling 1-888-CALL-JON to schedule a free case review.
