A truck crash is not just a bigger version of a car accident. The differences between these two types of accidents are significant, and they help explain why truck accidents often result in more serious injuries than car accidents.
Weight and Size
Trucks weigh 20-30 times more than passenger cars, and they are often much longer and taller as well. This weight and size advantage gives trucks a tremendous amount of kinetic energy, which can cause catastrophic damage in the event of a crash.
Additionally, because of their size, trucks have large blind spots—areas around the vehicle where the driver cannot see other cars—so truck drivers must be especially careful to check for other vehicles before changing lanes or making turns.
Speed and Stopping Distance
Another difference between trucks and cars is that trucks take much longer to stop than cars do. That’s because it takes more time for the truck’s brakes to slow down its momentum, and because a truck’s wheels may lock up if the driver slams on the brakes too hard. As a result, trucks need a greater following distance than cars do, yet many truck drivers tailgate other vehicles or fail to leave enough space when changing lanes. When combined with speeding or aggressive driving, this can create a dangerous situation for everyone on the road.
Tire Blowouts
Because of their size and weight, trucks place tremendous stress on their tires, which increases the likelihood of tire blowouts. A tire blowout can cause a truck to lose control and jackknife or tip over onto its side. These types of accidents are often very serious because they can cause many vehicles to collide and block multiple lanes of traffic.