Tractor-trailer Accidents Continue to Claim Lives in Tennessee

By Thomas Greer | December 28, 2013

On December 4, 2013, a 23 year old man from Hillsboro, Tennessee was traveling eastbound on Interstate 24 when he traveled from the left lane into the right lane and impacted the rear-end of a tractor-trailer traveling in the same direction.  The impact led to the 2013 Nissan Sentra that the man was driving getting crushed under the tractor-trailer.  The driver of the truck was not injured in the accident.  The driver of the car died.  This terrible crash illustrates the danger of tractor-trailer and passenger vehicle collisions.

The average weight of a car on the road is 4,000 pounds while a tractor-trailer weighs an average of 18,000 pounds.  The sheer difference in weight means that the passenger vehicle and its occupants are going to bear the brunt of any collision.  Although the accident on Interstate 24 involved a car that impacted the back of the truck, in many cases, the truck collides with the car because the truck cannot stop very quickly.  Most accidents between trucks and cars take place on multi-lane roadways like the interstate, where all vehicles are traveling at a high rate of speed.  These facts are the reason that tractor-trailers are involved in ten percent of fatal accidents while only accounting for two to three percent of vehicles on the road.

If a person does survive a collision with a tractor-trailer, the injuries suffered by the occupants of the car often are severe, including spinal cord injuries that result in paraplegia or quadriplegia.  Accident victims also may experience a closed head injury where the impact causes a serious injury when the brain actually collides with the skull with great force, causing traumatic brain injury (TBI).  An outside force also may lead to a TBI.  One of the great risks of walking away from the scene of an accident is that if the victim does suffer a closed head injury or spinal cord injury that does not present immediately, he may not be aware of the severity of the injuries until he is far away from emergency medical care and the harm may be severe and irreversible.  Even those crash survivors who emerge from the crash relatively unscathed may suffer from neck and back problems for the rest of their lives.

Victims who survive a tractor-trailer accident often have injuries that require emergency care as well as ongoing medical treatment.  One or more surgeries may be necessary to repair some of the damage.  Many people will need years of rehabilitation and physical therapy to regain strength and mobility, to the extent possible.  Family members may give up their jobs to care for the injured loved one and there often is the need for additional in-home care.  Severe trauma frequently means that the victim needs to give up the job that he had before the accident or change careers.  All of this means that these individuals are going to require significant resources to cover all the costs, as well as the pain and suffering, that resulted from the tractor-trailer collision.

There are many factors that contribute to a tractor-trailer accident, but driver negligence often is a critical component.  There are many different elements that will need to be proven in order to recover damages sufficient to cover a lifetime of care.  The compassionate and knowledgeable Tennessee truck accident attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC can take the burden of getting the compensation from you as you focus your energy on recovering from the trauma that you suffered.  We are available to discuss your accident at your convenience during a free and confidential consultation.  To schedule a time to meet, please call us at 901-680-9777.

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