Everybody knows someone who is full of tall tales. If you happen to meet such a person at a neighborhood block party or a professional networking event, he will tell you that it all started when he got hit by a garbage truck, and the insurance settlement money enabled him to launch his current business venture. You have probably seen news stories, especially here in New Mexico, about mishaps involving trash trucks.
This is not to suggest that garbage trucks are more involved in accidents than other vehicles; they just make the news because trash is so unpleasant that people cannot help but click on a headline that promises an avalanche of trash. Once you take away all of the shock value, a garbage truck is just another motor vehicle capable of inflicting serious injuries and the devastating financial losses that go with them. Garbage trucks even pose some dangers different from those associated with other commercial vehicles. If your accident-related injuries were the result of getting hit by a garbage truck, contact a Santa Fe motor vehicle accident lawyer.
New Mexico Garbage Trucks are More Dangerous Than Most
At first glance, it seems like garbage trucks present less of a danger for the average motorist than 18-wheelers do. After all, big freight trucks weigh 13 tons or more, and they travel at high speeds on the highway. Their air brakes were not made for sudden stops, so a minor mishap can cause a multi-vehicle pileup and leave dozens of people injured and their vehicles wrecked. Of course, you can avoid the risk of being involved in such an accident by avoiding the highways; you do not see 18-wheelers on city streets very often, and they are a vanishingly rare sight in residential neighborhoods.
Garbage trucks, on the other hand, drive right in front of your house one or more times per week; they even make their rounds to apartment complexes and shopping centers that generate a lot of trash multiple times per day. Therefore, the chances are good that you will encounter garbage trucks on a regular basis. The good news is that they do not travel very fast, but the bad news is that they make frequent stops. Unless the garbage truck driver, nearby pedestrians, and drivers who are traveling on the residential streets or going in or out of a driveway are paying attention to their surroundings at all times, accidents can result. In fact, the biggest danger of garbage trucks is that they are a distraction. They are big, noisy, and stinky, breaking the silence on residential streets in the early morning hours. To make matters worse, New Mexico has seen several incidents in the past few years in which garbage trucks have caught fire.
Contact Slate Stern About Car Accident Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured in car and truck accidents. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
Sources
https://www.krqe.com/traffic-roads/crash-in-northeast-albuquerque-causes-serious-injuries/
Photo by Carl Campbell on Unsplash