Phoenix Car Accident Attorney Blog

Hundreds of grapes were dumped in a ditch in California after an early morning truck accident (KION 9/13/10). The truck had too much speed entering a left hand turn and flipped. The driver was not injured but the truck’s cargo was ruined. As Arizona truck accident lawyers, we are relieved this accident brought no injuries, but are reminded again of the dangers on the highways.

Speeding was the cause of 283 fatalities in Arizona last year (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2009). When cars are speeding, they turn into thousand-pound weapons and can cause serious harm. If a tractor trailer truck is speeding, there are a few tons of pounds behind the wheel, making it an instrument even more deadly than the typical sedan. Trucks can easily tip due to their weight distribution and shape. As shown in the accident on Monday morning, taking a turn at too fast a speed, combined with the weight they are pulling behind them, can cause a rollover. Luckily no car was on the outside of the truck or it could have been crushed.

It is dangerous and illegal to speed under any circumstances. The speed limits are set based on the roads’ conditions and traffic patterns. A 25-mile an hour section of road usually is set that way due to the number of driveway entries to the street, and a highway speed limit is usually around 65 miles an hour because the road is designed with wide lanes and minimal turns. Speeding increases your chances of an accident due to the increase in reaction time. Things pass by so quickly while speeding that by the time something is spotted and must be avoided, it is already on your bumper, and then it’s too late.