In order to make it easier to swap trailers between different cabs and for drivers to navigate tight spaces while out on the road, tractor-trailers are designed with a unique rotating hinge where the cab and trailer connect. The tradeoff to this design is that the cab and trailer move independently of each other, which means if the truck loses traction with the road surface, both parts can move at different speeds and even in different directions from each other.
This can lead to a type of wreck called a jackknife, which involves the trailer of a semi-truck kicking out to the side or all the way in front of the cab during a skid. These kinds of wrecks tend to cause uniquely serious injuries to multiple people at once. If you’ve been hurt in a jackknife truck accident in Hershey, you should speak with a skilled attorney at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers about your legal options sooner rather than later.
How Negligence Can Cause a Truck to Jackknife
There’s no shortage of ways a truck driver’s irresponsible actions behind the wheel could lead to an uncontrolled skid, which means there’s no shortage of ways negligence can potentially lead to a jackknife truck crash in Hershey. Some of the more common sources of wrecks like this include:
- Going over the speed limit
- Not slowing down for sharp turns, steep inclines, or poor road conditions
- Poor truck maintenance—for example, not replacing worn-down tires
- Overloading trucks with too much cargo
- Improper braking
- Distracted driving
- Driving while drunk, high, or dangerously fatigued
All these behaviors qualify as a breach of duty truck drivers have to act responsibly and lawfully behind the wheel at all times. Proving that a breach was the main and direct cause of an accident and serious injury is the goal of every successful truck accident lawsuit built around negligence, as our attorneys can explain in more detail during a free initial meeting.
Getting Paid Fairly Within Filing Deadlines
If successful, a lawsuit or settlement demand based on a jackknife truck crash in Hershey can demand money for short-term and long-term damages the accident will cause you to suffer. This can include economic and non-economic losses like:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Medical bills and car repair costs not already covered by insurance
- Emotional trauma and distress
- Lost work wages, benefits, and future earning ability
- Loss of life’s pleasures and other effects of permanent disability or disfigurement
You’ll need to take action relatively quickly after your accident first happens because state law sets a filing deadline of two years after an injury occurs for the person to file suit. There are few exceptions to this statute of limitations, and failing to abide by it will almost always leave you with no means of ever getting any civil recovery for that particular accident.
Get in Touch with a Hershey Attorney After a Jackknife Truck Accident
A jackknifing truck is one of the most dangerous things anyone can encounter on the road. While money alone may not be able to completely erase the trauma of your wreck, it can protect your best interests and improve your quality of life in the aftermath.
Help is available following jackknife truck accidents in Hershey from our legal professionals well-known for winning cases much like yours. Call us today to get started on a possible claim.
