Seeing disintegrated lorry tires on the highway is a common sight on our roads these days. The number of accidents caused by these lorry tire blowouts is on the rise, according to Texas 18 wheeler accident lawyer Greg Baumgartner.
When a big truck tire suffers a blow out, it can cause a potentially deadly situation for not just the driver, but drivers of other vehicles too who may come into contact with the tire debris. When the blow out occurs, the tire can become detached from the lorry, which will lead to problems for the driver of the lorry trying to steer the vehicle. This could be a danger to other road users who try and avoid the debris and the out of control lorry too.
It is easy to see why these blowouts are so dangerous. A commercial truck can weigh around 80,000 pounds. The lorry will have quite a large stopping distance because of this immense weight. This stopping distance is increased in an emergency situation when a tire blows out. Even drivers that are the most experienced can have problems trying to keep control of the lorry when the tire fails.
When other drivers notice the debris and the lorry swaying wildly, these drivers take urgent measures to try and swerve out of the way to avoid oncoming obstacles. There have been cases where even just a small piece of tire can result in a deadly accident.
There were figures recently released from the National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS), who found that there are around 25,000 truck crashes per year in the USA that come about because of a tire blow out, or even just a tire that is not properly inflated. These are numbers which are scarcely believable. It is clear that the number of crashes per year can be reduced if lorry drivers conduct a pre-trip inspection of their tires.
Crashes involving large commercial lorries are often very serious and many vehicles will likely be involved. It is common when a big lorry is involved in a collision, which is fully loaded, the vehicle’s driver and passengers will be hurt or even killed.
So, if you have been involved in a crash involving a large lorry, no matter how big or small, we would recommend that you get in contact with Greg Baumgartner today.
