One moment everything seems fine, and the next, you’ve been hit by a truck. “Out of the blue” refers to an accident in seemingly normal circumstances that completely catches you by surprise where there is no time to react. Here are two such accident scenarios:
Rural Highways
Rural highways often have a narrow single lane with small shoulders for each direction. Don’t let the rural setting fool you because these roads are dangerous, especially when you consider their high speed limits and the many trucks that use them.
Thanks to GPS direction finding technology, truckers are leaving the overcrowded interstates and taking short cuts on highways where there is literally no room for error. Oversized trucks can clip each other when going in opposite directions. This may happen while rounding blind turns where one truck is using part of the oncoming lane. Wet conditions and sharp curves can take truckers by surprise causing loss of control.
One common scenario is the impatient car that’s closely following a truck and is partially in the left lane to see around the truck. An oncoming truck sees this and tries to move to its right onto a soft shoulder. The soft shoulder causes the truck to over steer and lose control.
Motorists innocently driving behind the above described situations will quickly see an out-of-control truck in front of them. The only defense against these situations is allowing lots of following distance in front of you.
Parking Lots
The slow speeds of parking lots cause many motorists to let their guard down. While parking lot accidents with other cars often result in fender benders, an accident with a truck is a more serious matter because of their extreme weight. A truck moving at parking lot speeds can easily total your car and inflict serious injury to its occupants. Truck and cars typically share parking lots at malls and retail stores.
Trucks often park behind stores in lots set aside for them. Never use these for your own parking. Trucks in this area are backing into loading docks and making other difficult maneuvers in the tight spaces.
Never attempt to squeeze by turning trucks at parking lot entrances and exits. They need extra room for their wide swings, and their blind spots will prevent them from seeing you.
If a truck accident injured you or a loved one, seek legal advice from a truck accident lawyer. Contact us for a free consultation.