Commercial trucks are long and wide, and they often have a short cab or tractor and a much longer trailer, which makes them difficult to maneuver, especially when turning at an intersection. Sometimes truck drivers hit the curb while making wide turns, which are often necessary just to get the truck around a corner. Wide turns can be challenging, and in some cases, truck drivers are not properly trained or simply do not consider the safety of others in cars or on motorcycles or bicycles or even pedestrians in a crosswalk when trying to make the turn. If you are injured in a wide turn accident, you need an aggressive Cleveland truck accident attorney to represent you in a lawsuit for damages. The knowledgeable Ohio lawyers at Rubin Guttman & Associates understand the tactics that trucking companies may use in order to avoid paying compensation for the injuries and damages they've caused to victims of their negligence. We fight trucking companies and their insurance companies to get the most compensation for our clients.
Establishing Liability Based on an Improper Wide TurnEighteen-wheelers and big rigs are too large to make the same maneuvers that smaller passenger vehicles can. When a commercial truck needs to make a right turn, it often needs to travel to the far left lane and then cross back over to the right lane while turning. Sometimes a large commercial truck needs to swing into an oncoming lane or far lane of traffic on the road onto which it is turning. The trailer on a semi, because of its great length, also does not follow the path of the tractor leading it. Many truck drivers underestimate how much space they will need to complete a wide turn.
A truck driver can cause harm during a wide turn in a number of ways. Truck drivers may fail to notice cars or motorcycles that are in the path of their trailer and may crush a pedestrian, a person in a smaller vehicle or on a bicycle who is doing nothing more than waiting in his lane or on the curb near the crosswalk to allow the truck to complete its turn. Sometimes the truck driver swings too far left before starting the right turn and hits a vehicle in the oncoming lane. A head-on collision can be devastating to the person in the smaller vehicle, let alone a pedestrian or a bike rider. In other situations, a trailer may hit a car or other vehicle in its path. In still other cases, a truck driver miscalculates the space needed to make the turn and may crush someone against the curb. In any of these cases, the injuries may be catastrophic
Right Turns Mean that the Truck's Convex Mirror may be Obstructed but Right Turns are Still Safer than Left Hand TurnsIn spite of these right hand turn risks, CNN reports that major trucking companies like UPS instruct their drivers to make right hand turns wherever possible because left hand turns cause traffic backups, waste fuel and increase harmful emissions from trucks stopped in traffic. Also, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), a truck making a left hand turn is twenty times more likely to cause a crash than a right hand turn.
The injuries that may be sustained in a wide turn accident are often devastating. They can include paralysis, crushing injuries, traumatic brain injuries, amputation, or even wrongful death.
If you are injured in a wide turn accident, we will fight to help you recover damages from the negligent driver and even her employer.
In Ohio, a trucking company can be held vicariously liable for its employee driver's negligent conduct in the course of employment. Vicarious liability does not require you to show that a trucking company was negligent, but only that its employee and driver was. Just showing that the truck driver's negligent acts or omissions while making a wide turn were in the course and scope of the driver's employment may be sufficient.
A trucking company can also be held liable if its driver did not have enough training to properly handle a wide turn. The company will also be liable for its negligent hiring, supervision, or training of that driver. We are experienced trucking accident lawyers and will obtain the company's records to determine whether the company violated federal or state regulations in connection with hiring, supervising, or training its drivers and thereby endangered the public through its negligence, independent of the truck driver's individual errors in making the turn, failing to maintain an adequate lookout or other negligence.
Contact a Knowledgeable Cleveland Attorney for Your Truck Crash CaseIf you were involved in a truck accident caused by an incompetent attempt to make a wide turn, you should retain an attorney who is experienced in litigating these claims. Often, trucking companies and their insurers will try to block efforts to get the evidence that you will need to prove the truck driver and his company's fault. Rubin Guttman & Associates has the necessary experience to aggressively investigate and pursue truck drivers, trucking companies, and other responsible parties on behalf of victims like you who have suffered catastrophic injuries at the hands of a negligently driven semi or tractor-trailer driver in Cleveland or elsewhere in Ohio. You can call us at (216) 696-4006 or (888) 488-8529, or contact us online to arrange a free initial consultation. We will arrange a time and place to meet that is convenient for you. Russian, Hebrew, and Spanish language services are available by appointment.