Hundreds of thousands of big rig accidents occur every year across America, resulting in many serious injuries and fatalities. While big rig accident attorneys find that human error or even negligence cause many of these events, road hazards and dangerous roadway also cause a fair number of these wrecks. It can be challenging to prove this and usually requires the assistance of highly experienced big rig accident lawyers.
Dangerous Roads - A Cause of Many Accidents
According to a report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), road design and other roadway conditions not related to weather cause or contribute to more than 13,000 vehicle crashes every year.1 Based on survey findings, issues such as defects in road design, view obstructions and poor lighting, improper or missing signage, and other roadway conditions are a major factor in thousands of crashes that result in injuries and fatalities every year. Additional issues known to contribute to these events include potholes, uneven pavement, inclines or declines that are too steep, curves that are too tight, inadequate roadway drainage, and many others.
Big Rigs and Dangerous Road Accidents
Big rig accident lawyers explain common road hazards cause many of the crashes that involve tractor trailers. These larger and heavier vehicles are notoriously difficult to control, requiring skilled operation on safely maintained roads in order to prevent crashes. Roadway hazards like design flaws and improper maintenance are particularly significant in big rig accidents. These occurrences are particularly common on secondary and rural roads, which often receive the least amount of maintenance and have a higher incidence of design flaws.
Proving Road Dangers Can Be Difficult
Whether the problem is poor design, lack of maintenance, or missing signage or road markers, big rig accident attorneys know the greatest challenge in these cases is proving negligence. Skilled attorneys must first thoroughly investigate the event to determine if some type of road danger contributed to the crash. If causation is related to a road hazard, a lawsuit may be warranted against the state government.
This branch of the government is responsible for overseeing the design, construction, and maintenance of all roads within the state. When these duties to the public are not fulfilled and injuries result due to dangerous conditions, the state may be liable. Since such legal cases must go through a different process than other injury claims against a company or private individual, claimants usually require the assistance of experienced big rig accident lawyers.
Millions of cars and trucks travel U.S. highways every day with the assumption that the roads are well-designed and properly maintained. Unfortunately, the lawyers who handle big rig accidents know this is not always the case and all drivers are endangered as a result. When big rig accidents occur due to dangers such as highway design defects, improper signage and signaling, and a lack of maintenance, big rig accident attorneys can help injured victims get deserved compensation.
Hildebrand & Wilson, Attorneys at Law
7930 Broadway, Suite 122
Pearland TX 77581
