Whether it be an 18-wheeler commercial truck, a garbage truck, a flatbed truck, or otherwise, a collision with a large truck can be catastrophic. Sometimes, these collisions may not be caused by poor driving on the truck driver’s part. That is, the catalyst may be the poor maintenance of a truck by an external, third party. Read on to discover how poor truck maintenance leads to accidents and how a seasoned Toronto truck accident lawyer at Merricks Law Group, P.A. can help if you were made a victim of such negligence.
What constitutes a poorly maintained truck?
It is usually expected for the owner or supervisor of a trucking company to conduct routine inspections of its fleet of trucks. At the same time, a truck driver must assess the general safety of their truck before they get behind the wheel. With that being said, a truck driver should not get anywhere near the busy roads if there lies any of the following poorly maintained qualities within their truck:
- A truck has broken taillights that have yet to be replaced.
- A truck has missing reflective tape that has yet to be replaced.
- A truck contains worn-out tires or brakes that have yet to be replaced.
- A truck has a defective coupling with its trailer that has yet to be replaced.
- A truck has improperly placed side or rearview mirrors that have yet to be adjusted.
- A truck gets overloaded or improperly loaded and creates an uneven weight distribution.
How can poor truck maintenance lead to auto accidents?
Because of the sheer size and weight of a large truck, even the smallest maintenance issue can lead to a catastrophic auto accident. That is, a standard motor vehicle driver has little to no chance when colliding with a commercial vehicle like this one. More specific examples, based on the maintenance issues mentioned above, are as follows:
- A truck’s broken taillights may cause a standard motor vehicle to rear-end into it.
- A truck’s missing reflective tape may cause a standard motor vehicle to collide with it at night.
- A truck’s worn-out tires may cause a tire blowout and subsequently a chain reaction auto collision.
- A truck’s defective coupling may cause its trailer to sway into neighboring lanes and sideswipe a standard motor vehicle driver.
- A truck’s poorly placed side mirror may cause large blind spots and subsequently a sideswipe auto collision.
- A truck’s overloaded or improperly loaded trailer may cause it to flip on its side and land on a standard motor vehicle driver.
If any of the maintenance issues and/or truck collisions mentioned above happened to you, what you need the most is likely strong legal representation from a competent Toronto auto accident lawyer. Someone at the Merricks Law Group, P.A. is eagerly waiting for you to reach out.
