Posted in: | May 17,2018
A recent truck rollover accident involving a tanker carrying several tons of liquid chocolate led to viral internet memes that featured highways flowing with molten chocolate and smart captions. However, these memes don’t do justice to the underlying seriousness of such accidents.
There is no way to know exactly how many such food truck accidents happen every year because the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration do not officially track these numbers. However, food truck accidents make for great humorous memes. When a food truck rollover accident occurs, the resulting spillage makes for dramatic visuals. In the recent past, there have been accidents involving food trucks carrying everything from frozen McDonald’s French fries and oranges, to biscuits and frozen fries. When an accident like this occurs and results in all the contents of the truck being spilled over the highway, the Internet lights up with these viral memes.
However, hidden behind the jocularity that is triggered when such accidents occur, are the dark secrets of the trucking industry. Very often, these truck rollover accidents occur as a result of fatigue, or driver sleepiness. Overstressed drivers are a fact of life in the trucking industry, and the resulting fatigue can place both truck drivers as well as motorists at risk of severe injury. In the past, driver fatigue has been blamed for a number of food truck accidents that resulted in everything from frozen chicken to potatoes to being spilled on the highways.
When you share a meme involving a food truck accident that spills produce or other food items on the highway, you may not fully understand that truck drivers, as well as other motorists, may be at risk of serious injuries as a result of such accidents. Not as well circulated as the memes is the fact that the trucking industry is currently grappling with a major driver shortage, and that means more untrained, unskilled and novice drivers on the highways.
A truck rollover accident is much more likely to involve an untrained driver, who is not adequately trained to handle or maneuver a large truck efficiently or safely. Novice drivers are more likely to overcorrect or drive their vehicles recklessly. Such behaviors have actually been linked to several food truck accidents in the past.
Driver error and fatigue are major causes of truck accidents, and these are factors that the trucking industry has failed to fully appreciate. While federal rules that aim to regulate the number of hours that a truck driver works have recently gone into effect, it still remains to be seen if these rules can help curtail the number of drivers working in an overstressed, overworked and fatigued state.
If your loved one has been injured in a trucking accident, speak to an Indianapolis trucking accident lawyer at Montross Miller Muller Mendelson Kennedy, LLP and discuss your rights to compensation.
