Recent crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that if the driver if a passenger automobile crashes into the backend of a semi-truck trailer, the driver of the car will probably die. The reason for this fatal prediction that can cause the wrongful death of the car driver is that the trailers are higher than the cars. The passenger car moves under the trailer so that the majority of the force of the accident occurs against the windshield and roof pillars protecting the passenger compartment. The under-ride guards on semi-trucks may fail even at slower speeds in a truck vs. auto accident. The Institute is asking the Federal Government to mandate stronger under-ride guards that will stay in place in the event of a crash. The Institute is requesting more guards on more models of large trucks and trailers. Seventy percent of the 3163 people who died in all large truck accidents were the occupants of the passenger vehicles. Passenger vehicle front-end structures are designed to handle a large amount of crash energy in a way that minimizes the chance of injury to the occupants. Even if your car has a highly rated frontal crash safety score, if the truck's under-ride guard gives way or was never there at all, the chances of surviving a relatively low-speed rear end crash into the truck trailer are not good. Often a large semi-truck will rapidly change lanes or cut off drivers of passenger vehicles causing the car to rear end the semi-trailer. Just because the passenger car rear ends the semi-truck doesn't necessarily mean that the driver of the car was at fault. If you need legal advice about an auto accident or truck accident, contact the Palm Springs auto accident lawyer or the Palm Desert truck accident lawyer at the firm of Barry Regar A Professional Law Corporation today.
