According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), large commercial trucks are involved in more than 13% of fatal crashes annually in the United States. It should come as no surprise that 40 tons of steel, fiberglass, and gasoline can be deadly if driven incorrectly, but people may wonder about exactly how those trucks end up in crashes. So what are the most common types of commercial truck accident?

Answer: The most common truck accidents are rollovers, jackknife wrecks, rear-end crashes, head-on crashes, sideswipes, wide turns, and side-impact accidents.

In this article we will define each of those accident types in greater detail. Let's get started:

Rollovers

Tractor-trailers and other commercial trucks have a higher center of gravity than passenger vehicles, meaning that abrupt course changes like tight turns or swerving too hard between lanes can easily tip a truck over. Once overturned, the truck and and its trailer may block traffic or even slide some distance down a road, creating the potential for serious harm to anything it hits.

Jackknife Wrecks

Jackknife accidents happen when a truck brakes too hard or loses control, causing its trailer to pivot around the coupling between truck and trailer. That causes them to fold in on each other, creating the shape of a partly-folded pocketknife (hence the name).

Much as with an overturn crash, a jackknifed truck may become a hazardous roadblock or something of a sliding "bulldozer" until it comes to rest. This is especially dangerous at night, where highway speeds and poor visibility can mean a car is on top of a jackknifed truck before the driver realizes it.

Rear-End Crashes

Large trucks are very heavy and take time and distance to slow down; unfortunately, sometimes a truck driver can't (or simply doesn't) stop before hitting traffic ahead of him. Many factors could be behind the trucker's failure to slow, but the crash that follows often causes serious injuries or even death for those he hits.

Sometimes the reverse occurs and passenger vehicles crash into the back of 18-wheelers; in worst-case scenarios those cars may even travel underneath the taller semi-trailers. Those underride crashes often cause catastrophic or fatal injuries as well.

Head-On Collisions

Those who have seen a head-on crash between cars know the damage can be immense, but that damage is exponentially worse when a passenger vehicle collides head-on with an 18-wheeler. However a semi-truck ends up in the oncoming lane, anyone it crashes directly into has little chance of escaping unharmed.

Sideswipe Accidents

Sideswipes are unfortunately quite common, particularly in highway traffic. One vehicle drifts or veers out of its lane and hits the side of another, and the resulting damage can range from simple scuffed paint all the way to totaled vehicles. Similarly, victims may suffer little more than cuts and bruises—or they might be catastrophically injured from an overturn or secondary crash after being pushed off-course. The difference in mass between a tractor-trailer and most passenger vehicles increases the chances of a more dire outcome.

Wide Turns

Most people can tell just by looking that 18-wheeler design isn't ideal for tight cornering. Well-trained and experienced truck drivers know how to turn safely, but less skilled drivers sometimes "wing it" in dangerous ways.

In right-hand turns, for example, drivers may steer wide to the left and then circle back to get far enough away from the curb. During that move the truck may swing into other lanes, which is highly hazardous for anyone already traveling there. Sometimes those motorists crash directly into the truck's cab; in others they are sideswiped or forced into other lanes, while in still other cases they run underneath the side of the turning semi-trailer and get dragged. Whatever form the collision takes, it rarely works out well for the person in the smaller vehicle.

Side-Impact Crashes

Also called T-bone or broadside crashes, these accidents happen most often at intersections when one party or the other fails to yield the right-of-way, resulting in the front of one vehicle impacting the side of another.

Every Truck Accident Case is Complex

The nature of each listed 18-wheeler accident may be different, but their outcome is often the same: Someone is catastrophically injured or even killed, too often due to the carelessness of a truck driver. Making sure those accidents are carefully investigated and the right people are held accountable takes a particular and wide-ranging skillset, so an experienced truck accident attorney can be indispensable when it comes to resolving a complex accident.

In our 30 years of investigating and litigating truck accidents, Grossman Law has seen most every common kind of crash—and plenty of uncommon ones too. If you were hurt or lost a loved one in any kind of accident with a 18-wheeler, call Grossman Law any time for a free and confidential consultation.