Getting involved in any type of truck accident puts you at great risk of serious injury if you’re driving a passenger car. Even the largest pickup truck on the market weighs far less and is much shorter than your average semi. These differences can have a devastating impact when the two collide.
However, one of the greatest dangers is when vehicles are involved in a pile-up accident with multiple other cars and large trucks. In these instances, small cars can get pinned between two trucks or hit from behind by a semi that does not slow down or stop in time. It’s impossible for the drivers in front to avoid these accidents, and the risk just compounds as more and more vehicles get involved in the chain-reaction crash.
SLIDING ON BLACK ICE
A recent and tragic example of this just took place near Fort Worth this month. Freezing rain fell during the night and then temperatures dropped, coating the road in black ice. Cars began sliding in to one another, with trucks jackknifing or slamming in to the vehicles at the back of the crash. On the ice, they couldn’t reduce their speed and often slid in to the pile-up with their horns blowing, fully out of control but unable to prevent the impact.
When it was over, more than 130 vehicles had crashed, dozens of people had suffered injuries and six of them died. It was one of the worst accidents of the year.
This tragic crash brings the risks to light in a new way. If you are injured in a crash with a truck, make sure you know how to seek compensation for your expenses and damages.