What Causes Jackknife Truck Accidents And How Can They Be Prevented?

In the United States, approximately 2 million truck accidents occur each year. One of the most dangerous types of truck accidents is a jackknife accident. This post will explore what causes these accidents and how to prevent them from happening in your fleet.

What are jackknife truck accidents?

Jackknife truck accidents are common, and they often result in fatalities.

A jackknife truck accident is when a semi-truck’s trailer becomes detached from the cab during travel, causing it to overturn or flip over.

Like any other truck accident, dealing with jackknife cases is complicated, so it’s vital to be proactive.

For example, you may want to explore your state’s law on jackknife truck accidents and see if any exceptions would apply in a case like yours-such as whether or not the driver acted negligently.

It is also crucial for the victim of an accident caused by a semi-truck to contact their insurance agent right away and get all relevant information before making decisions about the next steps. In addition to contacting the insurance, attorneys at https://www.cd-lawyers.com/los-angeles-truck-accident-lawyer/jackknife-accidents/ often insist that getting a lawyer immediately is the right thing to do. Getting an experienced lawyer on matters of such nature is the best way to get a favorable outcome for the victim. The lawyer allows you to focus on your healing and not on the legal aspects of your jackknife truck accident.

What Causes a Jackknife Accident?

Many factors contribute to jackknife accidents. Some of the leading causes include;

• Fatigue

Driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of jackknife accidents because it takes a driver’s full attention to react quickly enough when an emergency arises on the road. Fatigue can occur from the many hours spent on the road without rest and can also be caused by driving for long periods without stopping.

• Inattention/Distractions

Inattention or distraction while driving is another leading cause of jackknife accidents. It causes a driver to lose focus on the road, increasing the chances of an accident happening. This can occur when drivers are texting behind the wheel, looking at their phones for directions instead of where they’re going, reading something that takes up all their attention, such as books or newspapers, to pass the time during a long drive-time commute.

• Truck Overload

Truck overloads are one more reason why truckers have these kinds of accidents. Over time heavy loads make trucks less stable and much harder to steer than lighter ones if loaded properly with weight distributed evenly across both axles. Each truck tire is only designed to carry about one-quarter of the load that it can when fully inflated, and if an overloaded truck’s weight exceeds this by too much, then there will be a greater risk for jackknife accidents. It’s a legal requirement for trucks to weigh in at least once a day, but this may not help if the trucker is only doing short hops.

How to Prevent Jackknife Accidents

As mentioned earlier, jackknife accidents are fatal and can happen to anyone. There are many ways the truck driver, and those around them, can try to prevent these accidents from happening:

-Truck drivers should only drive when they feel well-rested

-Drivers should be aware of any possible hazards on the road ahead

-When driving long distances, drivers must take scheduled breaks to avoid fatigue or drowsiness, which could lead them into an accident that might result in fatalities.

– The most common cause of jackknife accidents happens because trucks lack stability due to being overloaded with cargo. Drivers need not carry more than 90% of their vehicle’s weight limit per axle at all times (the maximum amount allowed by law), which will also help avoid jackknifing.

Drivers should be aware of the load they are carrying and, if possible, try to distribute the weight over both axles for optimum stability evenly. 

-Many drivers don’t know that there is a speed limit on bridges which can be as low as 45 mph because too fast of speeds can cause extreme stress or wear on bridge joints causing them to break down under heavy loads resulting in an accident. Truckers need not exceed these limits when driving their vehicles across a bridge. Truck drivers face many other safety hazards each time they’re behind the wheel, but those listed above seem to be some common causes of jackknife accidents.

We hope you now have a better understanding of what causes jackknifes and how to prevent them from happening in your fleet. If you are at risk for these types of accidents, consider investing in high-quality tires or wheel chocks that will help reduce the likelihood of this type of accident occurring.