Commercial vehicles such as semi-tractor-trailer trucks, buses, box trucks, delivery vans, and garbage trucks all play critical roles in Missouri communities, bringing goods and services and providing transportation for passengers. Although we depend on commercial vehicles, these large, unwieldy trucks and vans crowd the roadways, often looming over much smaller passenger vehicles and leaving motorists vulnerable to injuries. About 70% of injuries in commercial vehicle accidents are to other motorists, not the driver of the truck, van, or bus.
Missouri saw 137 traffic fatalities related to commercial vehicles in 2023, the most recent complete data year. In 2022, 5,936 people suffered fatalities in crashes involving that weighed over 10,000 lbs.
Many lawyers in major cities like Kansas City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, and especially St. Louis personal injury attorneys have seen a significant amount of cases involving these serious accidents.
What Are the Common Causes of Commercial Vehicle Accidents?
Large commercial vehicles require much longer stopping distances when they brake compared to smaller cars and pickup trucks. Depending on the length of the vehicle, they may also have to take wide turns. Many commercial vehicles have extended blind spots; for instance, 18-wheelers have blind spots on both sides that extend down the length of the trailer and over two lanes on the right side. In addition, delivery vehicles and garbage trucks make frequent stops, starts, and reverses. Commercial vehicle drivers spend a long time on the road, leaving them more likely to engage in distracting activities or to experience fatigue. The most common causes of commercial vehicle accidents in Missouri and elsewhere include the following:
- Tailgating (following too closely)
- Speeding
- Taking wide turns
- Distracted driving
- Making unsafe lane changes
- Improper merging
- Failure to yield the right of way
- Drowsy driving
- Poor visibility
- Mechanical failures
- Inadequate maintenance
- Inexperienced driver
- Driver intoxication
In some cases, the cause of the accident may be something unrelated to the driver or their company or agency, for example, if the accident was caused by unsafe road conditions such as construction debris left in the road or vegetation overgrowth blocking vision, a city road maintenance agency may be liable for damages to injury victims.
Determining Liability in a Commercial Vehicle Accident
Like most states, Missouri is a fault-based insurance state, requiring accident injury victims to prove the other driver’s negligence caused the accident to collect compensation from the at-fault driver’s insurance policy. Determining liability often takes an investigation into the cause of the accident. The injury victim, or plaintiff in the case, must provide compelling evidence of the at-fault party’s liability by showing that they owed a duty of reasonable care to others on the road, they breached their duty of care by acting negligently, their negligent breach of duty directly caused the injury, and the injury victim suffered damages from the accident. Common damages include property damage, medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering.
How Can a St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer Help?
Missouri’s fault-based comparison negligence insurance laws mean your compensation for an accident claim will be minus your percentage of fault if the insurance adjuster assigned to your case finds that you contributed to the cause of the accident. This incentivizes them to assign undue blame to injury victims. Call an experienced St. Louis car accident attorney at Miller & Hine so we can take action on your behalf and defend your best interests through a complex commercial vehicle accident claim. If the accident was due to a larger vehicle, such as a big-sized truck, reaching out to a Miller & Hine St. Louis truck accident lawyer would be more suitable for your situation.