Trucker Careless Driving a Major Safety Risk

Careless driving is always dangerous, but is even more so when done by a truck driver, as the weight of the larger vehicle means accidents involving semis and other large vehicles are more likely to result in significant injury or death. Operators of heavy equipment and vehicles should always pay careful attention to the road to minimize the risk of an accident occurring.

Defining careless driving can be difficult, as there are many ways a driver can be careless, but some examples include

• Removing eyes from the road to change radio station or otherwise interact with a device
• Allowing yourself to drift into road amnesia, functionally attempting to “auto-pilot” the truck as your mind is elsewhere
• Opening food or snacks with one hand while attempting to maintain control of the vehicle with the other
• Failure to adjust speed due to changes in roadways, such as changes in elevation and curves
• Removing one or both hands from the wheel while driving

Though often conflated with reckless driving or distracted, careless driving does not require a cell phone or other distraction be present. Failure to adjust to the conditions of the road is careless, regardless of whether the person is actively distracted. When dealing with semis and trucks, where making last-second adjustments to avoid a collision is difficult due to the momentum of the vehicle, careless driving is much more likely to result in an accident than when a driver of a smaller car behaves in a similar way.

If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in a truck accident, and you believe that careless driving may have been a factor, please consider having your case assessed by an experienced attorney. Recognizing and evaluating the evidence for careless driving can be difficult, and a qualified lawyer with years of familiarity with such scenes can apply their practiced eye to the details of your case.