Just 11.5 million of the 268 million registered vehicles in the United States are commercial trucks. When we drive passenger vehicles to work and school, we share the roadways with 18-wheelers and tractor trailers which may weigh between 30,000 to 80,000 pounds and be more than 50 feet long. Large trucks can cause serious damage in numerous types of collisions, including accidents caused by wide right turns. These accidents are almost always caused by the truck driver. Because of the sheer size of a truck, the damage and injuries in any collision involving a commercial vehicle may be far more serious than any collision involving only smaller passenger vehicles.

Why Trucks Make Wide Right Turns

Turning a compact passenger vehicle right is a simple maneuver, because most passenger vehicles such as a Toyota Corolla are only 14 to 15 feet long. Roadways were not made for commercial trucks, which average 53 feet long, to easily accomplish this maneuver. However, it is possible for large trucks to make careful right turns and avoid anyone being injured. When wide right turns result in crashes or injuries, something went wrong. The driver may have been speeding, distracted, not properly trained, or simply being reckless.

Types of Truck Accident Wide Right Turns

There are three scenarios where a wide-right-turn could result in a collision:

• The too-far left head on collision:  To make a right turn, a truck driver must swing the truck to the left, into another lane before turning right. If the truck driver turns too far left, a head-on collision could occur with a vehicle coming from the opposite direction.
• The not-far-enough right turn:  If the driver does not turn far enough left, a collision could occur if the truck goes off the road or rolls over.
• The too-far-left second turn lane: A third scenario occurs when there are two right turn lanes, and the truck is turning from the closest lane and cuts into the second right lane, crushing or pushing into a vehicle.

Speed can play a major role in accidents, if the driver was slowing coming into a turn, and didn’t slow enough. Wide right turn accidents are very often caused by negligence of the truck driver, if they didn’t turn properly, failed to use a turn signal, or didn’t’ properly check blind spots. Truck accidents can have multiple causes, including poor or negligent maintenance or failure of components such as brakes, tires or steering mechanisms. The trucking company may be liable if they didn’t properly train the truck driver, or didn’t ensure that the cargo was properly loaded and balance. Improper loading of a truck can contribute to rollovers in right-hand-turn accidents.

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