Many people are familiar with the most common causes of truck accidents and truck accident injuries in North Carolina and South Carolina: trucker fatigue, truck mechanical problems, trucker driving distractions, and trucker blind spots. But often drivers are not aware of one other cause of truck accidents on our nation’s roads, highways, and interstates: truck overloading and improperly loaded trucks.
How do overloaded and improperly loaded trucks cause NC and SC truck accidents?
Overloaded trucks make big rigs weight even more than they already do. This means that they are even harder to brake, even harder to maneuver, and even harder to turn. An overloaded truck is more likely to rear end you if your vehicle stops quickly, and an overloaded truck is more likely to be unable to avoid an accident it is quickly approaching. Overloaded truck are also much more likely to suffer mechanical problems. While a regular set of commercial truck brakes are designed to stop a certain amount of weight, an overloaded truck can wear out brakes or simply overwhelm them. Other areas of the truck, such as the rigging and the wheels, can wear down or break under the stress of extra weight.