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I’ve written a couple times about the danger of overweight commercial trucks. In recent years, the number of fatal highway accidents has declined. Cars are safer. The one area where the number of fatal accidents has increased — crashes involving large commercial trucks. In numerous posts, I’ve discussed the issues contributing to this increase. They include distracted driving, truck driver health and truck equipment. So, I thought it a good time to revisit the issue of overweight trucks.

Alabama is criss-crossed by Interstate highways. We’re all familiar with the big trucks on Interstate 65, Interstate 20 / 59 and Interstate 10. But, this is not just an issue for our Interstates and major highways. In some rural areas of our State, logging trucks are a frequent sight. These trucks are often overweight. If you drive the rural roads of Alabama, you’ve likely seen plenty of overloaded log trucks. They are a huge danger to other drivers.

I’ve prepared a slideshow which discusses the primary dangers of overweight trucks on our roads and highways. How does the extra weight put us at risk? What are the dangers? Here are four dangers of overweight trucks:

• Increased braking distance makes it more difficult for truck drivers to react and stop
• Increased risk of tire blowouts creates a danger of sudden highway emergencies
• Increased potential for load shifts or spills causes truck instability on the road
• Increased steering difficulty makes trucks harder to maneuver and control

I’ve linked my slideshow below:

My slideshow provides information on each of these highways dangers. I would add one more issue. It’s not an immediate danger. But, overweight trucks also cause more wear and tear on our roadways. That increases the cost of highway maintenance. It also creates potential dangers due to unsafe highway conditions.

We need commercial trucks to carry the products we use every day. Most truck drivers are dedicated to safety. We need to make sure these drivers are provided needed support for their own health. We need to make sure these drives are provided equipment and loads that are safe for all of us.

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From its office in Huntsville, the Blackwell Law Firm helps people across Alabama following serious personal injuries. Many of these cases involve car and truck accidents. Outside court, the firm continues to advocate for safer roadways, safer workplaces and safer products.