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We all know the feeling: that uncomfortable tightening of the chest we get when we look in our rearview mirror and see an 80,000-pound 18-wheeler truck barreling down on our back bumper.
According to federal statistics, commercial trucks are involved in thousands of collisions each year–-and much suffering and personal injury. Some of the reasons are obvious:
* Trucks are bigger, heavier, and longer than cars;
* Trucks need more room to maneuver; and
* Trucks take a lot more road to come to a stop.
Given their size and weight, common sense tells you that a collision between a big rig and a car, or even an SUV and a car, is likely to come out badly for the car.
In fact, commercial truck crashes killed over 5,300 people in 2001 and over 125,000 more had personal injuries, many of them seriously hurt. Updating that statistic to New York State, in 2005 it was reported that 8,000 large truck accidents involved over 16,000 vehicles.
If you have had an accident with personal injury that involves you and a big-rig (semi) truck, New York City Attorney Stephen Bilkis says that it is important you know your rights–and are protected at every turn after the accident: with the insurance company, with the other driver, and any possible legal action.