The rollover accident is the most fatal of all types of automobile accidents. Accident Recovery magazine recently reported that one third of automobile accident deaths in the United States are caused by rollover accidents. About 50% of SUV and passenger trucks are involved in rollover accidents. 60% of commercial trucks were killed when they rolled over in the accident. When a commercial vehicle accident occurs, the victim should seek legal assistance from an experienced Arizona personal injury law firm.
—Electronic Stability Control for Preventing Rollover Accidents of Commercial Trucks—
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States is trying to curb fatal accidents in buses and commercial trucks(the heaviest vehicles). The safety standards proposed by NHTSA for federal laws include electronic stability control mechanisms for large commercial vehicles. Similar regulations have been formulated for SUVs, pickup trucks and other cars. The law came into force in 2012. NHTSA firmly believes that the law has had a positive impact on the number of accidents leading to the death of abalone and abalone.
NHTSA also speculates that 56% of large commercial vehicle rollovers can be prevented through electronic stability control. The group believes that this will also reduce the number of runaway accidents of these vehicles by 14%. A maximum of 2329 traffic accidents can be prevented every year, and 858 injuries and 60 deaths can be reduced every 12 months.
The ESC system monitors the movement and direction of the vehicle. If ESC detects a stability problem, the system will help the driver control the vehicle through automatic correction of braking or vehicle steering.
Once the law on electronic stability control of commercial vehicles has been formulated, the production rules will apply to automobile manufacturers within 2 to 4 years after adoption. Many vehicles already have this technology. In order to meet the requirements of the law, no change is required. The rules of the National Road Traffic Safety Administration will come into force 2 to 3 years after their adoption, depending on the type of vehicle. This technology can now be used for various vehicles on the road.
Causes of rollover accidents of commercial trucks—
Obviously, the design of commercial trucks is a factor in rollover accidents. The high center of gravity of such a high visibility vehicle will roll over during the maneuver of sharp turns, curves, entrance ramps and exit ramps. Because the vehicle is manipulated, but the inertia keeps the load in the original direction, that is, the direction before the truck is finally manipulated. Then the vehicle rollover is usually worsened by the driver’s mistakes, such as the wrong judgment of speed, load height and weight, the load cannot be fixed or the driver’s attention is distracted.
Truck drivers always drive when they are sleepy. Another contributing factor to commercial truck rollover accidents is the driver’s mistakes in controlling the vehicle. Steering, acceleration and braking are common driver mistakes.
Many people do not know that one of the reasons for truck rollover is the lack of visual search. This means that the driver is not fully aware of the surrounding environment and other vehicles and obstacles on the road. Most of these accidents occur in traffic. Regardless of the root cause, most rollover accidents of commercial trucks depend on how the driver operates the vehicle.
Prevention of rollover accidents of commercial trucks—
Experts are studying the specific causes of such accidents to prevent commercial trucks from rollover. Certain changes, such as ESC, can be applied to the vehicle. The road can also be changed through design to prevent rollover accidents. An example of this is the setting of signs at highway exits that require trucks to reduce the speed limit. Another example is the device in the vehicle, which makes the driver aware of the dangerous situation of the loaded vehicle. But these are expensive changes that will take years to reap real benefits from reducing truck rollover.
Prevention through driver training programs is a clearer way to reduce these fatal accidents. Because these trainings are not required yet, even for business driver training programs, there is hardly enough in-depth research on prevention.
According to Aaron Crane of Cantor Crane; in fact, most commercial truck rollover accidents are the fault of the driver. Through the personal injuries caused by these accidents, the truck company of the driver has to pay a lot of money to the injured. It is hoped that these solutions will bring “pain” to truck companies, so as to start to carry out stricter prevention and training control on drivers.
These truck companies can save themselves a lot of money just by planning for prevention.
