Because it is located along the I-5 corridor, Grant’s Pass Oregon see’s a great deal of tractor trailer and semi traffic.  Semi trucks and other large vehicles represent an enormous amount of responsibility on our nation’s highways, and this responsibility is often taken less seriously than the import of a potential accident requires. Many truckers receive inadequate training with regards to a lifestyle based upon being on the road at all hours, often for weeks at a time; how many other occupations start and stop employee training at the handling of their equipment? Many truckers, under pressure to meet deadlines, are operating under conditions of sheer exhaustion much of the time, while some individuals rely upon caffeine or other chemical stimulants to keep themselves awake and focused. This frequently results in a state of hyper-focus, where the trucker is only paying attention to the road ahead. Coupled with their vehicle’s many blind spots, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

It’s small wonder that as many as half a million accidents involving semi trucks or other, similar large vehicles occur on US roads and highways each year. Of these, approximately 5,000 result in fatalities. Approximately 1 in 8 of all deaths resulting from vehicular accidents in the United States each year are the result of collisions with large trucks. Some of these are the result of other drivers not paying attention to the rules of the road, or failing to afford larger vehicles the respect that they deserve. Others are due to truckers driving in an impaired state, not paying attention to their mirrors, not having the appropriate experience to be driving alone, or operating vehicles without appropriate cautionary signage. The fact that the majority of truck-related accidents are less incidental, and more the result of negligent, is born out by crash statistics:

• Sixty-eight percent of all accidents involving large trucks or buses occur in rural areas, not in highly-populated urban areas where one would expect incidental events to be focused. This suggests that many accidents involving large vehicles are the results of drivers relaxing in lower-traffic areas.
• Sixty-six percent of all semi accidents occur during broad daylight, not at night, and not during dawn or dusk hours as was once believed. This tells us that the majority of accidents do not occur during low-light conditions, when it may be unusually difficult to spot other vehicles. It occurs during optimal driving conditions.
• The rate of accidents involving is significantly reduced during inclement weather. This suggests that, when truck drivers are paying more attention to the road, and are driving as carefully as they are able, there are far fewer accidents than the normal, broad-daylight rate. This statistic can be tied mostly to the drivers of trucks, buses, and other large vehicles, and not to automobile traffic, because it doesn’t hold up for accidents involving only smaller vehicles: during inclement driving conditions, accident rates among smaller vehicles are reduced.

If you have suffered injury, or have lost a loved one, due to an accident involving the negligence or oversight of a semi truck or other large vehicle driver, you deserve the best legal aid that’s available. Our personal injury law offices in Grant’s Pass, OR are staffed with attorneys who have years of experience dealing with injury cases involving semi truck accidents. Give us a call immediately, so that we can ensure that your rights are given all due concern. You deserve to be able to recover and get back on your feet as quickly as possible.

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(541) 460-5363

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