Though 18-wheelers usually are the largest vehicle on the highway, passenger vehicles are not exactly invisible. The average car, truck or SUV weighs thousands of pounds and comes equipped with headlights and taillights. It seems like any trucker who is taking reasonable precautions behind the wheel should notice all the smaller vehicles surrounding them.
Negligence that can lead to a wreck in Plantation
But sometimes a commercial truck crashes into a passenger vehicle and the best explanation is that the truck failed to notice the car before it was too late. Reasons this could happen include:
- The truck driver is distracted by their cell phone, food or something else
- The driver failed to use their mirrors sufficiently before changing lanes or attempting a turn
- The driver was speeding or otherwise breaking traffic laws
In a recent truck crash near the interchange of Interstate 4 and Interstate 75, a tractor-trailer rear-ended a car, killing its driver. Police said the car driver was moving at a “very low speed” for an “unknown reason.” The semi came up from behind the car. Instead of slowing down or changing lanes, the truck driver crashed into the other vehicle.
Given that the collision happened around 1 am, darkness might have been a factor. But the car’s brake lights and taillights should have made it visible, not to mention the lights along the edge of the road. Unless other factors prevented the trucker from seeing the car in time to take action, it is hard to imagine how the truck driver missed seeing the slow-moving car if they had been acting reasonably.