Truck accidents are scary even when no injuries are involved, and at worst, they can be life-threatening. While some of them are due to driver error or issues with road conditions, one of the biggest causes of truck accidents in Georgia is insufficient maintenance work. Lack of maintenance may result in vehicle malfunction, leading to accidents, injuries, property damage and even death.
Why is maintenance important?
Trucks weigh much more than cars and SUVs, especially when they are loaded, which results in higher strain being placed on the vehicle’s parts. While trucks are built with this in mind, they still need regular maintenance to make sure that nothing needs to be replaced or fixed. Though wear and tear on some parts, like the cabin air filter, may only impact the driver’s experience, truck parts can fail in unpredictable ways. The brakes and steering could be worn down or damaged, lubricant might run low, the tires and the hitch can wear out, and so on.
A truck that has lost some or all of its control carries a large amount of energy that is now veering all over the road or highway. During snowy or rainy conditions or on hills, this becomes even more dangerous.
A reputable mechanic will check all of these areas to make sure that a truck is safe to drive. Too often, however, schedule disruptions and disorganization means that trucks miss planned maintenance or it gets moved too far out into the future. That is when things get dangerous. If you have been the victim of an accident involving a truck, then bad maintenance may have been to blame.
