Crashes With Lifted Trucks Can Be Deadly

North Carolina’s laws are a bit lax when it comes to what is street legal, so the chances are good that you’ve shared the road with a lifted truck. A lift kit can certainly help if you spend a lot of time driving around on dangerous terrain, or if you have to haul a lot of heavy goods – but they can be a bit intimidating when you’re sitting in a passenger vehicle that’s lower to the ground.

For all the power that lift kits give, they also create some problems that could increase the risk injuries.

There is a greater chance that lifted trucks will rollover

Rollover accidents are really serious, and lifted trucks have a greater chance of experiencing a rollover situation when involved in a collision with another vehicle. The reason for this is because lift kits raise the truck’s center of gravity, which can affect its stability and handling. A driver in a lifted truck needs to go more slowly around corners, and may not be able to avoid a rollover if he or she needs to maneuver the truck quickly. Some of the different types of injuries sustained during rollover accidents include:

• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord damage
• Neck and back injuries
• Loss of limbs

Victims of these accidents often suffer from both internal wounds and open wounds throughout the body, due to the severity of the collision.

Vehicles involved in the collisions may end up underneath the lifted truck

Aside from increasing their chances of experiencing a rollover accident, drivers with lifted vehicles could put other motorists at serious risk of sustaining catastrophic injuries in the event of a collision. Because the truck is lifted, a vehicle that crashes into the truck could potentially slide underneath the truck. If a vehicle does end up underneath a lifted truck, the following things may occur:

• Blunt force trauma
• External decapitation
• Spinal cord injuries
• Spinal fractures
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Death

The chances of surviving a crash where one vehicle slides under another vehicle are much lower. It is the reason why many large commercial vehicles now have underride guards installed. The purpose of those underride guards is to prevent vehicles from getting lodged underneath those large trucks when accidents happen on the roadway. However, those operating lifted trucks do not have these guards in place, which means they are potentially putting the lives of many other drivers at risk.

Drivers who are thinking about getting a lift kit for their trucks should consider the potential outcomes carefully, especially because a lift kit may void a warranty for the truck, or present problems with insurance. If you are hurt in a wreck with a lifted truck, the Charlotte injury lawyers of Warren & Kallianos, PLLC are here to help.

If you were recently involved in a collision with a lifted truck, you may need assistance from a personal injury attorney who can assess the damage, learn more about your injuries, and pursue compensation from the truck’s insurance company due to the truck driver being at-fault for the accident. When you need legal help, call our law office at 704-377-7777 or use our contact form to schedule a consultation at your convenience.