Eyes Wide Shut to the Facts: Blind Spot Truck Accidents and Liability
One of the many essential rules you learn before getting your driver’s license is that you must always check your blind spots before easing into another lane. It doesn’t matter whether you’re merging, changing lanes, or passing, verifying that you have room to safely do so should be instinctive. Otherwise, you could be held liable for crashing into a vehicle that you didn’t even know was there—in addition to sustaining severe collision injuries.
It’s a greater challenge for bigger vehicles.
Due to their size, tractor-trailer trucks have large blind spots located on both the sides and back of the trailer, as well as immediately to the front of the engine. Vehicles located in one of these blind spots are difficult to see, and can easily go unnoticed by the driver. The driver has an urgent need to check his blind spots before merging.
Simple concept, right? Just as you are held accountable for checking your blind spots, so should truck drivers be held responsible, right? Well, that’s not how insurance companies see it.
Insurance Goggles vs. Seeing the Truth
Insurance adjusters will always initially try to downplay or obscure the facts of a truck accident claim to save their company money. This distortion can include overlooking details, ignoring evidence, and even denying that the claim is theirs to pay.
Adjusters are highly skilled in manipulating victims into admitting partial fault and settling their claims for far less than they are worth. One of their more successful exploitations is commonly used for claims associated with trucks merging into other vehicles.
If you file a claim for injuries sustained when a truck collided into you while you were in his blind spot, insurance companies see the opportunity to blindside you further with false information. They’ll tell you that:
- Rather than the trucker being at fault, you are to blame for riding in the truck’s blind spot.
- If you had sped up or slowed down so that the trucker could see you, the accident wouldn’t have happened.
- You should have been driving more carefully; after all, truckers have a lot of responsibilities, and so they can’t keep track of you all the time.
These are all straight-up poppycock!
It is the truck driver’s duty to drive safely. One piece of this duty is to make sure no other vehicle is in the path of the truck when maneuvering along the highway. When a truck driver’s negligent breach of his duty causes him to crash into another vehicle, whether it was located in the truck’s blind spot or not, the driver is liable for the damage and injuries resulting from the accident. Period.
Verifying Your Clear Path to Injury Compensation
If you or someone in your family has been the victim of a tractor-trailer accident resulting from a blind spot, you might be able to recover money damages as a result. Contact an experienced truck accident attorney immediately for assistance if you hope to recover money damages.
Attorney Steve Lee is standing by to help you see and remember that truck drivers are still liable for the accidents they cause, even if insurance companies try to convince you otherwise. He can be reached at 800-232-3711 or through the contact page on this website.