There May Be Bigger Accidents In The Future With Mega Trucks
Brian O Sutter
Traffic Accidents
One of the things that we stress here when it comes to vehicular accidents is that in any confrontation with a truck, the truck will always win. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a bicycle, a motorcycle, a car, or even an SUV, you will lose in an impact with a large, commercial, freight hauling truck, and that is for one simple reason; physics. Regardless of the speed that you are traveling at, a truck simply has more mass, and that means the impact of anything lighter is going to be affected far more than the truck.This is very important to understand, because trucks, as big as they are, may be about to get even bigger thanks to research and feasibility studies being done to allow “Mega Trucks” on American highways.
Bigger & Heavier
It shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone that that term mega truck doesn’t actually need all that much explanation. It really is exactly what it sounds like; an even bigger version of the commercial trucks we already see on the road. However, to qualify for mega truck status, the vehicle normally has to exceed 100’ in length and weigh over 160,000 pounds. Currently, there no trucks in this class that are actually cruising the highways of America, but there’s been a lot of testing in other countries, such as Australia, which also is a wide, spacious nation that relies on hauling a lot of freight on the road across isolated, rural areas.
There are a lot of good reasons for the American government to consider allowing these trucks on our roads. Of course, bigger trucks means, even more, freight can be hauled in one trip, which, combined with new materials, and better fuel efficiency means these mega trucks can be far more efficient at freight transport.
More Risk On Impact
These bigger vehicles also mean that accidents involving such trucks are also likely to be much more damaging, should they occur. A car crash lawyer can help in these cases with when a driver knows that it was the fault of the other vehicle, but in the case of a mega truck accident, the scale of damage is going to be much, much more severe. Injuries will be more serious, even death will be more likely. If the accident involves the mega truck itself going off the road, or its cargo spilling onto the road, the excessive volume is going to make for an even larger mess.
This is why even though mega trucks—should they come to our roads—may be extremely helpful for the industry, they carry their own big, legal risks. The complexity of a case involving a professional trucking vehicle means that you should seek the services of a legal practice that knows how to handle trucking accidents. This way, you can be sure that the nuances of legal responsibilities and obligations don’t catch you by surprise, and you’ll get the financial compensation that you are owed.