Underride Truck Accidents: Causes, Prevention, and Legal Strategies

Underride accidents are among the most tragic types of truck accidents you’ll see on Alabama roads. These collisions frequently result in severe or fatal injuries, and in almost every case, they are preventable. An underride crash is a severe type collision where a smaller vehicle, like a car, slides underneath a large truck (tractor-trailer), often at the rear or side, because the truck’s frame sits much higher. This intrusion into the car’s passenger compartment, bypassing normal safety features, such as air bags, can shear off the car’s roof, leading to catastrophic injuries or fatalities for the occupants. Because the trailer strikes the passenger compartment directly, victims often suffer traumatic brain injuries, crush injuries, spinal injuries, or even death.

These accidents aren’t fender-benders or low-speed rear-end collisions; they can cause fatalities, totaled vehicles, and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. If you’ve been injured in an underride accident in Alabama, contact Martin & Helms today.

Common causes of underride collisions

How it happens

• Height difference:The significant height gap between cars and trucks allows the car to go under the trailer.
• Rear underride:The car hits the back of the truck and slides underneath.
• Side underride:A car strikes the side of the trailer, often at an intersection or during a turn, and slides under.

Why are they so deadly?

• Bypasses safety systems:Airbags and crumple zones often fail to activate as intended, as the primary impact isn’t with the front of the car.
• Direct intrusion:The truck’s undercarriage intrudes into the passenger cabin, causing massive trauma.
• Roof shearing:The top of the car can be sheared off by the trailer’s underside.

Prevention:

• Rear underride guards:Steel bars required on the back of most trailers to block cars from going underneath.
• Side guards:Not federally mandated in the U.S., but proposed to prevent side underrides, especially for pedestrians and cyclists.

Most underride accidents aren’t the result of completely unpreventable conditions; they are usually the result of negligence or carelessness. Rear underride accidents often occur when a truck is stopped or slowing down and has insufficient reflective tape, lacks a rear underride guard, or does not have functioning taillights.

Side underride collisions may occur when a truck lacks reflective tape or is too dirty for the reflective tape to work. Trucks are expected to maximize visibility, use underride guards, and use reflective tape to prevent these accidents whenever possible.

One common and especially dangerous underride accident configuration occurs when a tractor-trailer is turning into a median, driveway, industrial entrance, or side road and the trailer portion remains protruding across active lanes of travel. In these situations, the trailer often blocks the roadway at a low profile that is difficult for approaching drivers to see, particularly at night, in low-light conditions, or when the trailer lacks adequate reflective markings or underride guards. Motorists traveling at normal speeds may perceive the road ahead as clear until it is too late to react, resulting in a passenger vehicle striking the side or rear of the trailer and sliding underneath it. These collisions are frequently catastrophic because the trailer’s rigid structure bypasses a vehicle’s primary crash-protection systems, leading to severe head, neck, and upper-body injuries or death. Tractor-trailer operators and trucking companies have a duty to ensure that turns are made only when the roadway can be cleared safely and that proper visibility measures are in place to warn oncoming traffic.

Industry standards and regulations

Federal regulations for truck drivers exist specifically to reduce the number of preventable accidents that occur on U.S. roads. This is especially the case with underride collisions, which can have fatal or catastrophic outcomes. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) were set to ensure safety performance requirements for motor vehicles and equipment. Specifically, § 571.223 (Standard No. 223) and § 571.224 (Standard No. 224) address rear impact guard requirements for most trailers and semitrailers with a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds. Other federal rules, including § 571.108 (Standard No. 108), govern rear lights, lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.

Guards stop a car from sliding under a truck, essentially making any crash less severe. However, under current U.S. and Alabama law, there are no federal or statewide requirements that trailers or semitrailers be equipped with side underride guards, despite the fact that these guards have been shown to reduce the risk of fatal crashes and the fact that these guards are required in Europe.

When trucking companies share liability

Fault for these collisions often lies with truck drivers. However, assuming that they are employed by a trucking company, liability generally lies with the trucking company. As a general rule, employers are liable for their employees’ actions during the course of their work.

Beyond this, though, trucking companies may be liable for underride accidents in other ways. If their actions or failure to act lead to the conditions causing the underride accident, they may ultimately be responsible. For example, if a truck is missing its underride guard or reflective tape or has a broken guard or broken lights, that could lead to a preventable underride crash. Trucking companies may also be liable when drivers are not adequately trained on hazard placement, prohibited parking or stopping locations, or the measures needed to keep their trucks visible at night.

While drivers are individually responsible for following federal regulations and safety standards, liability often ultimately rests with employers. Violation of safety statutes or federal regulations can serve as strong evidence of negligence in Alabama truck accident cases.

Contributory negligence in Alabama

One factor that comes into play in Alabama is the state’s contributory negligence law. Most states allow accident victims to recover compensation in court, even in cases where they are partially at fault. Unfortunately, since Alabama is a pure contributory negligence state, if a jury finds that you are even partially at fault for a collision, you’re barred from recovering anything.

Trucking companies, their insurance providers, and their legal teams know this and use it to their advantage in negotiations. They may imply (or come right out and say) that you were following too closely, were distracted while driving, or stayed in their driver’s blind spot, all in an effort to shift blame onto you and avoid paying out compensation. This is why it’s important to work with an experienced truck accident lawyer in Alabama; they understand the challenges posed by the state’s contributory negligence standard.

Protecting your claim

There’s a wide range of evidence that you may use to protect your legal rights after an underride accident in Alabama. You need objective evidence showing that the truck driver erred in their obligation to minimize risk and keep other road users out of danger. Your truck accident attorney may use evidence like:

• Black box data: Black box data reveals what happened immediately prior to and during a crash. Your attorney may be able to analyze driving speed, braking efforts, and timing of the collision to see how the driver was operating and if they attempted to avoid the crash.
• Dashcams and other video footage: Dashcam footage, surveillance camera footage, and footage from other sources can prove exactly what happened, what efforts both parties made to avoid a crash, and which errors led to the collision.
• Electronic logging device data: HOS violations can contribute to underride crashes, particularly when fatigue impairs a driver’s reaction time. When a driver is behind the wheel for so long that fatigue and distractions are inevitable, accidents follow. ELD data shows if a driver is compliant with FMCSA requirements.

Explore your legal options with Martin & Helms

Underride accidents have devastating consequences for everyone involved, and it is crucial that you act quickly to protect your legal rights. Let’s talk. Reach out online to set up a consultation.