Garbage Truck Accidents lead to 24 deaths per 100 million miles. In fact, garbage trucks hit more pedestrians and other non-moving individuals than any other type of vehicle. Often times, victims of
garbage truck accidents are those who are riding on the back of the truck. Garbage truck accidents can be caused by the same reasons as truck accidents. However,
garbage truck accidents are also unique because of the constant starting and stopping and the poor visibility on the driver's behalf. Although they often move slowly up a street, they are also very dangerous because of their sheer size and the lack of visibility for their drivers.
Unfortunately, many pedestrians are injured because the garbage truck is maneuvering around an obstacle and the driver does not have a good sight line. They often move down narrow alleys and then back out. Other times they drive on the wrong side of the road. But the one constant is that this all generally takes places in the very early or the very late hours when it is dark.
Garbage truck accidents are much different than
tractor-trailer truck accidents because the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations do not apply. Garbage trucks are not considered commercial motor vehicles under the regulations. However, general safety principles require garbage companies to follow many of the same safety rules. They should be required conduct background checks and evaluations for their drivers before putting them behind the wheel. If they do not, then the company should be responsible for negligent hiring. Additionally, garbage companies should not continue to let unsafe drivers drive these large machines once they have notice of the driver's dangerous tendencies. This can subject them to a claim for negligent retention.
Injuries from garbage truck accidents can be very severe. They often include broken legs, broken arms,
herniated discs,
brain injuries, or even death. If you have been injured in a garbage truck accident, call our garbage truck accident lawyers. We focus our practice solely on severe personal injury cases such as those resulting from garbage truck accidents. Our Firm has a history of significant recoveries in motor vehicle collision cases. We maximize the value of your case by aggressively and thoroughly investigating not only the facts of the accident, but also the driver's background. If the responsible driver's past history should have disqualified him or her from driving a large, dangerous vehicle such as a garbage truck, we will uncover that evidence use it as leverage to increase the value of your case.