18 — as in 18-wheeler — can be an unlucky number
In many ways, driving is all about margin of error. Or in gambling terms, it’s about odds. When you drive defensively, you enhance your odds, along with the margin of error by you or another driver. If you tailgate, drive too fast, change lanes suddenly, cut off other cars and otherwise are reckless, your margin of error – your odds – will only shrink.
Many reckless drivers have been lucky for so long that they figure this margin of error doesn’t apply to them. They figure they’ve been able to tailgate, speed and whip in and out of lanes so many times without an accident, that why shouldn’t they keep doing it? Of course, sooner or later such odds may catch up with them. Sooner or later, someone may pay a horrible price for their recklessness.
Other drivers may try driving safely, yet in some ways still have a small margin for error. And why is that? It’s because they drive on roadways alongside the vehicular monsters known as 18-wheeler trucks.
If an 18-wheeler truck is involved in a collision with a small car, guess who’s more likely to die? The truck driver, or the car driver? You know the answer. So car drivers, no matter how well they drive, have a smaller margin of error when they’re around these lumbering leviathans.
Similarly, truck drivers have a smaller margin of error if they want to avoid killing someone. And it’s not just because of their hefty size and weight. It’s due to the laws of physics. A large 18-wheeler simply can’t stop as quickly or swerve as accurately and in control as can a far smaller car.
As for that size and weight issue, check out the damage done Tuesday by a tractor trailer in Youngsville, N.C., where it rammed into a power pole and a restaurant after the driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel.
Much of the city was without power, and two schools planned early closings as a result. In all, an estimated 2,500 residences and businesses lost power because of this large truck accident – an accident which, somehow, didn’t kill anyone.
Next time, such luck may run out. Odds are odds.
The tractor trailer driver, by the way, was ticketed for driving 55 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone and for reckless driving.
Now, if a small car had run off the road, chances are the damage wouldn’t have been nearly as severe as when the driver of an 18-wheeler checks into Sleepyland Hotel when he should be watching the road. This accident’s severity was impacted by margin of error, which, given the size of his vehicle, was greatly reduced.
As drivers, we must all do everything we can to drive defensively, drive safely and increase our odds for survival and safety. But given the nature of thousands of enormous tractor trailers and 18-wheeler trucks on our roads, some margins of error will always remain small, even if government regulations and trucking industry self-policing increase – and there’s no guarantee of that.
If you or a loved one has suffered due to an 18-wheeler accident, let a Texas 18-wheeler accident lawyer with Jim S. Adler & Associates fight for your rights and secure your just compensation. In the legal realm, at least, you can increase your odds dramatically by securing the right representation.
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