Any traffic accident involving a tractor-trailer is almost guaranteed to cause serious injuries to everyone aside from—and sometimes including—the truck driver themselves. That said, certain types of truck accidents are even more likely than others to result in life-altering harm, with one of the deadliest of all being what’s known as a “jackknife” crash.
On top of being uniquely dangerous, jackknife truck accidents in York can also be uniquely difficult to file suit over in the aftermath. This is because they tend to involve multiple injured victims suing at the same time. Fortunately, you have help available from a skilled truck crash lawyer who has years of experience fighting and winning cases like this on behalf of people just like you. Let our seasoned legal team at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers help you recover.
How Do Jackknife Truck Crashes in York Happen?
Tractor-trailers are designed so that the trailer part is connected to the tractor pulling it by a coupling joint that can rotate freely in its socket and can be disconnected so trailers can be moved separately from cabs. The upside of this design is that it allows these massive machines to navigate sharp turns and tight spaces much more easily. The downside is that the trailer has its own separate speed and momentum from the cab pulling it.
This means that if the person driving the truck loses traction with the road and ends up in a skid, the truck’s trailer may end up moving at a different speed or in a different direction from the cab. As a result, the trailer may kick out to the side of or even all the way in front of the cab, creating a jackknife shape that stretches across multiple lanes of traffic and may cause the truck to collide at a high and uncontrolled speed with many other vehicles at once.
Filing Suit Against Everyone Responsible for a Jackknife Wreck
Most of the time, the person primarily at fault for a jackknife truck collision in York is the person who was driving the truck. Various “negligent” behaviors behind the wheel can lead to a jackknife crash, with the most common being things like:
However, individual truckers are rarely the only people who can be held liable for a crash of this nature. To start with, it’s often possible to hold a trucking company “vicariously liable” for the negligence of their employee, thanks to a legal doctrine called respondeat superior that your lawyer can explain in more detail.
Alternatively, trucking companies may be directly liable for jackknife truck wrecks if they did something directly negligent themselves, like:
- Hiring an unqualified driver
- Forcing a driver to stay on the road longer than they were legally allowed to
Sometimes, these collisions can even be caused by the negligence of a third party—for instance, a supplier who didn’t secure a truck’s cargo properly, leading to it shifting enroute and causing the truck driver to lose control.
Get in Touch With a York Attorney Following a Jackknife Truck Accident
Few things you can encounter on a public road are more dangerous than a jackknifing tractor-trailer. Unfortunately, if you’ve learned that lesson the hard way recently, you may now be dealing with physical, financial, and personal losses that you had no way of preparing for and which may alter the course of your life.
In a situation like this, you need help from an experienced lawyer who can guide you through the process of demanding fair payments for the harm you’ve unfairly sustained. Call Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today to discuss your legal options after a jackknife truck accident in York.
