Common Causes of Truck Accidents

Long hours behind the wheel produce dangerous lapses in judgment, slowed reaction times, and falling asleep at the wheel. Federal hours-of-service rules limit consecutive driving, but carriers regularly push past those limits — something Electronic Logging Device (ELD) data and dispatch records can expose. See our full guide to driver fatigue and hours-of-service cases.

Texting, eating, dispatch apps, and GPS systems pull a truck driver's attention off the road at exactly the moments they need it most. Illinois bans handheld phone use while driving, and federal rules prohibit texting by commercial drivers.

Commercial trucks require much longer stopping distances than passenger vehicles. Excess speed compounds that problem and is a leading cause of rear-end and jackknife crashes. Aggressive lane changes, tailgating, and failing to adjust for weather all fit here as well.

Overloaded, unbalanced, or improperly secured cargo can make a truck unstable, producing rollovers, jackknife accidents, and falling-debris injuries. Federal cargo-securement regulations assign responsibility across the carrier, loader, and shipper depending on the facts. See our full guide to improper cargo loading and the Savage doctrine.

Brake failure, tire blowouts, steering-component failures, and coupler issues are disproportionately common on trucks with inadequate maintenance records. Under federal rules, carriers must inspect and document repairs on a defined schedule — gaps in those records often become key liability evidence. See our full guide to defective brake cases and FMCSR maintenance standards.

Commercial drivers are held to a stricter BAC standard than passenger-vehicle drivers, and post-crash drug and alcohol testing is mandated after serious accidents. A positive result is almost always admissible — and can also support punitive damages.

New or poorly trained drivers may not be prepared for night driving, weather, urban traffic, or emergency maneuvers. Driver-qualification files and training records are subject to discovery and often reveal gaps that establish carrier negligence.