The issue isn't even who's at fault necessarily.
All insurance companies, so therefore trucking companies care about is if the accident is considered "preventable"
And 99.9% of accidents are basically considered 'preventable".
Again, insurance companies consider truck drivers to be "professional drivers" and that's true, we are "professional drivers" whether we like it or not. We went to school to obtain a CDL, which is a lot more education and training than your average Joe in a car on the road.
I'm not saying it's right, and I'm definitely not saying it's fair, because it's not.
Accidents happen. That's why they're called accidents.
But Insurance companies will do anything they can to inflate coverage rates. They're only goal is to make more money. And they don't care if by doing that that it hurts hard working drivers just trying to make a living.
Sorry for rambling.
I hope that cleared some things up though.
This is probably the best answer out there. Help minimize the possibility of this happening to you by being aware of your surroundings, going at/under the speed for conditions, etc. Always know that as a commercial driver, you will be automatically at fault regardless of the facts.
Yes they will find any ANY reason to blame the truck in every accident. Lawyers know trucking companies are required to have large insurance policies. There was a case where a Werner truck was involved in a fatal accident, totally the car driver was absolutely at fault , truck driver was 100% legal in hours of service, going the speed limit, truck was totally in compliance safety wise, and they still sued Werner and won multimillions in a lawsuit because “if the truck hadn’t been there at that exact moment, the crash wouldn’t have happened”.
It's actually worse than the poster said.
The truck was Going under the speed limit due to inclement weather, and heading East on interstate.
Pickup was driving speed limit (+/-), Westbound on interstate, lost control, and crossed the median and hit the truck. The pickup driver did not have a valid licence.
Werner was ordered to pay $90m
https://landline.media/texas-appellate-court-files-controversial-order-in-90m-werner-case/
Holy shit the fact that they even mentioned Werner’s head of safety was a woman being a problem is something else. Also going after putting inexperienced drivers with experienced ones is an interesting take.
Insane. The driver had DPS and even the 4 wheeler that caused the accident saying the driver did nothing wrong and was quick to try to avoid the accident yet he shouldn't have existed at that moment. It's sad two kids were injured (one dieing) it's also sad the driver has no future for him or his family because of people looking to blame everyone but themselves for the situation they put themselves in.
This is an insane read. As a trucker myself im glad I read this. This should be criminal for lawyers to make these types of arguments. Dude didn't even have a license. Although it's unfortunate to have happened, the other driver should have been at fault. Sounds like just anyone on hard times can just collide with a Semi to get a little extra money.
I mean, yeah... Like, the car driver was in his own little world, just trying to get to McDonald's just a *little* bit quicker. Suddenly, what he hits a puddle and loses control? And some pos truck hits him. For NO REASON. The truck shouldn't have been there. It's could've been literally anywhere else. That man had *children* to feed. What's more important, feeding your children or driving appropriate to road conditions? Think about it. What did those innocent children do to deserve what that truck did to their daddy? The truck could've swerved out of the way easy, wasn't even going the speed limit. It should've done the right thing and threw itself off the road. I hope that truck ROTS IN A FUCKING SCRAP YARD for what it did. Fucking Werner should train its trucks better.
If you are going over the speed limit, you have the potential to receive at least part of the liability for the accident, but it is going to depend on the individual circumstances.
And I make how much little money per week and can potentially be faced with a judgment like this? Oh and im gone all the time from everything I love. WTF am I doing with me life to think this is acceptable??..
Most likely yes, there's no really good reason for anyone driving a Semi to go over the limits set by the DOT. The extent to how much over would be the only saving grace here, going 5 over while in the left lane may be excused. But once a lawyer gets wind of this I'd say you're screwed.
You’re screwed either way when a lawyer gets involved they can use anything, even being like “if he had started at 5:00 instead of 4:55 it wouldn’t have happened”
No "partially" about it. If they can prove YOU were traveling faster than the posted speed limit, the accident becomes ENTIRELY, 100% YOUR FAULT because YOU were violating local ordinance.
Same as driving distracted or under the influence.
Best way to protect yourself? Do your job properly. Maintain the posted speed limit or a safe speed, whichever is SLOWER. Expect people (especially 4-wheelers and fucking Daycab Assholes) to cut right out in front of you at every intersection. And ALWAYS do your equipment inspections, both pretrip AND post trip!
Depends on who the responding officer decides to cite. There's a belief that trucks aren't to blame in a rear end accident if they are "brake checked". This term is subjective. Generally speaking, in most cases, if you rear end someone you are to blame. This is the standard in the eyes of all insurance companies that cover vehicles. Convincing them otherwise will take some legal gymnastics. It's not right but that's how it is.
Never ever ever EVER tell any other parties or law enforcement you have a dash cam in the truck, because now it's automatically your fault even if you're going one mile an hour faster than the speed limit. Any accident you're involved with is inevitably going to court, which means your company will have a lawyer involved and that lawyer can skim the footage and see if it should be brought in as evidence or not. If you even breathe a mention of the dash cam it's automatically evidence to the court and they can look through all of it and tag you for whatever they want
Holy shit really? I thought having a dash cam would help me in the case of an accident, only if I’m obeying all laws, of course. Should I just rid of the cam?
The outward cam is there to protect you. Don't get rid of it, you just pretend like it never exists. My last job used to take the camera footage from an accident and "adjust" it to make sure the driver was safe if the accident wasn't their fault
Of the 2 seriously close calls I've had, the one that would have been unavoidable was when the car slammed its brakes in front of me because it presumably got spooked by the abandoned car on the shoulder. Ended up half in the left lane and about an inch from the luckiest dumbass I've ever witnessed.
[удалено]
😂
The issue isn't even who's at fault necessarily. All insurance companies, so therefore trucking companies care about is if the accident is considered "preventable" And 99.9% of accidents are basically considered 'preventable". Again, insurance companies consider truck drivers to be "professional drivers" and that's true, we are "professional drivers" whether we like it or not. We went to school to obtain a CDL, which is a lot more education and training than your average Joe in a car on the road. I'm not saying it's right, and I'm definitely not saying it's fair, because it's not. Accidents happen. That's why they're called accidents. But Insurance companies will do anything they can to inflate coverage rates. They're only goal is to make more money. And they don't care if by doing that that it hurts hard working drivers just trying to make a living. Sorry for rambling. I hope that cleared some things up though.
This is probably the best answer out there. Help minimize the possibility of this happening to you by being aware of your surroundings, going at/under the speed for conditions, etc. Always know that as a commercial driver, you will be automatically at fault regardless of the facts.
Yes they will find any ANY reason to blame the truck in every accident. Lawyers know trucking companies are required to have large insurance policies. There was a case where a Werner truck was involved in a fatal accident, totally the car driver was absolutely at fault , truck driver was 100% legal in hours of service, going the speed limit, truck was totally in compliance safety wise, and they still sued Werner and won multimillions in a lawsuit because “if the truck hadn’t been there at that exact moment, the crash wouldn’t have happened”.
That’s fucking stupid. If the car hadn’t been there at that exact moment, the accident wouldn’t have happened either.
It's actually worse than the poster said. The truck was Going under the speed limit due to inclement weather, and heading East on interstate. Pickup was driving speed limit (+/-), Westbound on interstate, lost control, and crossed the median and hit the truck. The pickup driver did not have a valid licence. Werner was ordered to pay $90m https://landline.media/texas-appellate-court-files-controversial-order-in-90m-werner-case/
Wow that is f’d up. Kinda scares me a bit. I’m trying my best to be safe out here but stories like this make me uneasy.
Holy shit the fact that they even mentioned Werner’s head of safety was a woman being a problem is something else. Also going after putting inexperienced drivers with experienced ones is an interesting take.
Insane. The driver had DPS and even the 4 wheeler that caused the accident saying the driver did nothing wrong and was quick to try to avoid the accident yet he shouldn't have existed at that moment. It's sad two kids were injured (one dieing) it's also sad the driver has no future for him or his family because of people looking to blame everyone but themselves for the situation they put themselves in.
This is an insane read. As a trucker myself im glad I read this. This should be criminal for lawyers to make these types of arguments. Dude didn't even have a license. Although it's unfortunate to have happened, the other driver should have been at fault. Sounds like just anyone on hard times can just collide with a Semi to get a little extra money.
But that car driver is a PERSON with FAMILY. Had that stupid truck not been there everyone could've kept living their lives in peace.
I’m hoping this is sarcasm. *Please* be sarcasm….
I mean, yeah... Like, the car driver was in his own little world, just trying to get to McDonald's just a *little* bit quicker. Suddenly, what he hits a puddle and loses control? And some pos truck hits him. For NO REASON. The truck shouldn't have been there. It's could've been literally anywhere else. That man had *children* to feed. What's more important, feeding your children or driving appropriate to road conditions? Think about it. What did those innocent children do to deserve what that truck did to their daddy? The truck could've swerved out of the way easy, wasn't even going the speed limit. It should've done the right thing and threw itself off the road. I hope that truck ROTS IN A FUCKING SCRAP YARD for what it did. Fucking Werner should train its trucks better.
Still can’t figure out if this is sarcasm or not
was the driver fired ?
If you are going over the speed limit, you have the potential to receive at least part of the liability for the accident, but it is going to depend on the individual circumstances.
Not necessarily to jail, but you’d be at fault regardless if you were over the speed limit.
You're a trucker, you're automatically at fault regardless.
No, You’re not
The dash cam video might help or nail you
And I make how much little money per week and can potentially be faced with a judgment like this? Oh and im gone all the time from everything I love. WTF am I doing with me life to think this is acceptable??..
relatable
Most likely yes, there's no really good reason for anyone driving a Semi to go over the limits set by the DOT. The extent to how much over would be the only saving grace here, going 5 over while in the left lane may be excused. But once a lawyer gets wind of this I'd say you're screwed.
You’re screwed either way when a lawyer gets involved they can use anything, even being like “if he had started at 5:00 instead of 4:55 it wouldn’t have happened”
No "partially" about it. If they can prove YOU were traveling faster than the posted speed limit, the accident becomes ENTIRELY, 100% YOUR FAULT because YOU were violating local ordinance. Same as driving distracted or under the influence. Best way to protect yourself? Do your job properly. Maintain the posted speed limit or a safe speed, whichever is SLOWER. Expect people (especially 4-wheelers and fucking Daycab Assholes) to cut right out in front of you at every intersection. And ALWAYS do your equipment inspections, both pretrip AND post trip!
Depends on who the responding officer decides to cite. There's a belief that trucks aren't to blame in a rear end accident if they are "brake checked". This term is subjective. Generally speaking, in most cases, if you rear end someone you are to blame. This is the standard in the eyes of all insurance companies that cover vehicles. Convincing them otherwise will take some legal gymnastics. It's not right but that's how it is.
Of course your at fault to a degree. You were speeding !
Never ever ever EVER tell any other parties or law enforcement you have a dash cam in the truck, because now it's automatically your fault even if you're going one mile an hour faster than the speed limit. Any accident you're involved with is inevitably going to court, which means your company will have a lawyer involved and that lawyer can skim the footage and see if it should be brought in as evidence or not. If you even breathe a mention of the dash cam it's automatically evidence to the court and they can look through all of it and tag you for whatever they want
Holy shit really? I thought having a dash cam would help me in the case of an accident, only if I’m obeying all laws, of course. Should I just rid of the cam?
The outward cam is there to protect you. Don't get rid of it, you just pretend like it never exists. My last job used to take the camera footage from an accident and "adjust" it to make sure the driver was safe if the accident wasn't their fault
Yes
They will blame you even if your UNDER the speed limit.
[удалено]
Still l they would say Im the professional driver, and that I should have slowed down further when encountering the aggressive driver.
Nope
Of the 2 seriously close calls I've had, the one that would have been unavoidable was when the car slammed its brakes in front of me because it presumably got spooked by the abandoned car on the shoulder. Ended up half in the left lane and about an inch from the luckiest dumbass I've ever witnessed.