Blog

Trucking Accidents

• Speeding, Distracted Driving Among Common Causes of Serious Injury and Fatal Kansas City Trucking Accidents

View All

A Kansas City Accident Victim's Guide to Jackknife Truck Crashes

Jackknife accidents can be some of the most catastrophic commercial truck accidents on the road. A classic jackknife truck accident occurs when the trailer portion of a big rig truck pivots at its hitch and swivels upwards towards the truck cab; as it swivels, the trailer passes into the neighboring lanes of traffic, and forms a "V" shape with the cab.

Another type of jackknife accident is a tandem jackknife accident. This type of accident occurs when there are two trailers behind a cab and the rear trailers axles lock up before the drive axle tandems or the front axle.

When jackknife accidents occur they stretch across multiple lanes of traffic and often result in multi-car, pileup accidents with large numbers of serious injuries such as broken bones, spinal cord injuries, paralysis and head injuries. Many jackknife accidents also result in semi truck crash fatalities.

A jackknife accident can occur suddenly. The jackknifing often happens when a truck driver improperly brakes or quickly applies the truck's brakes in order to avoid a collision – perhaps the truck driver was distracted by a cell phone call and did not see a passing vehicle in time. Jackknife accidents often occur to:

• Drowsy truck drivers
• Inattentive or distracted truck drivers
• Medicated truck drivers
• Truck drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol

Jackknife accidents may also be caused by:

• Downshifting
• Accelerating on a low friction surface
• Engine retarders
• Entering a curve too quickly
• Adverse road conditions
• Bad weather

Sometimes jackknife accidents occur because of faulty brakes, poorly adjusted brakes and brake failure.

The suddenness of a jackknife accident does not give other drivers a chance to react. This can cause multi-car pile-ups and secondary accidents.

The Kansas City trucking accident attorneys at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys have experience helping victims of jackknife trucking accidents. We are able to investigate the 18-wheeler crash, determine the cause of the accident, and get our client the best possible insurance compensation for his injuries, lost wages and other losses.

If you have sustained serious injuries in an accident with a jack-knifed truck, you need an experienced jackknife truck accident lawyer to represent you and your injury case. Contact Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys to schedule a free consultation at 1-888-348-2616.

For more information about personal injury claims in Missouri and Kansas, download our free guide “10 Essential Steps You Must Take to Protect Your Injury Claim.”

Just Ask

Free Consumer Guides

Testimonials

• I’m highly satisfied, I would call Victor again. I needed his help, and he has been a great attorney. I’m very comfortable recommending victor to other clients. Now that I’m happy with how much he’s helped me, I’m definitely recommending him to anyone that needed his help.
• Heather was very nice and polite and very informative. Heather was very responsive when I asked her questions and very informative. Yes, she was very aggressive with the insurance company. She was very aggressive trying to get a higher amount. Yes she was very nice. She is very informative and knows what she is doing.
• It was great to work with Heather, she kept me informed about everything, the dos and the don’ts and what everything was and kept me on track. she was very professional she told you what was going on, she kept you a breast of everything that was going on, she was an excellent lawyer. Ms Heather and the whole staff at the Accident Injury firm, I would recommend them to anybody across the world, that they are excellent, honest attorneys.

View All

Latest News

• Posted on 5/21/2012FMSCA Releases Report Highlighting Main Causes of Fatal Trucking Accidents in KS. and MO.
• Posted on 5/15/2012Truck Driver Seriously Injured in Trucking Accident on I-70 near Bonner Springs, Kansas

View All

FAQs

Trucking Accidents

• Why shouldn’t I use the nice attorney who helped incorporate my business for my Kansas City truck accident case?

View All

Web Resources

• Trucking Accidents

more