Seeing a truck jackknifing in front of you can be one of the most frightening things that can occur. If you are lucky, you may be able to steer clear of it, but sometimes that just is not possible.
Getting caught by the truck could easily kill you or put you in hospital with life-threatening injuries. If you survive, you’ll want to know what caused the truck to jackknife so you can seek the compensation you will need. Was it all down to the driver doing something wrong? Or was it more complicated than that?
It all comes down to why they lost traction
Trucks jackknife when they lose traction. So the thing to work out is why the truck lost traction, and there is rarely a straightforward answer.
Sometimes it all stems from a change in the the road surface. One minute the driver is happily going alone, then the wheels hit a patch of ice or loose gravel and the truck starts to slide out from under them. Other times the jackknife arises from the wheels locking up when the driver brakes.
Road surfaces are not constant and drivers brake all the time. So what went wrong? Why did things not pass smoothly on this occasion? Maybe poor maintenance comes into it. Maybe they would not have lost traction if their tires had been changed sooner or the suspension had been better maintained. Poor anticipation is another option. Should the driver have expected ice on that section, or had a water pipe burst during the night causing an unexpected leak to freeze?
It’s also possible the driver braked too hard. Was that down to inexperience and poor judgment? Were they carrying too much speed into a corner? Were they distracted and only saw they had to brake late? Or did someone else do something that made them have to slam on the brakes?
Getting to the bottom of what caused a crash that injured you can be challenging. But doing so will be crucial to holding the appropriate parties responsible and getting the compensation you need.
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