Tanker Truck Accidents in Los Angeles, California
Commercial semi-tractor trailer trucks can cause serious or critical injuries, but tanker trucks carrying flammable, dangerous or hazardous liquids or materials can cause catastrophic or fatal injuries if there is an explosion and / or fire. If the tanker contained gasoline or some other flammable liquid it can burn at such high temperatures to burn and destroy the roadway, bridges, overpasses, and tunnels. When these physical roadway structures burn and are destroyed, they can continue to cause a chain-reaction of other injuries directly related to the tanker truck accident. Additionally, any tanker truck is subject to rolling-over or being subject to a roll-over accident if the tanker is less than three-quarters (3/4) full.
Liquid Cargo in Commercial Tanker Truck
Unlike solid types of cargo being carried in a semi-tractor trailer, liquid cargo behaves and reacts very differently. Any type of commercial truck that weighs more than a smaller motor-vehicle has a lot more mass and is harder to stop and is therefore more likely to be invovled in an accident. Oddly enough, and a bit counter-intuitive, but tanker trucks which are under-filled causes the liquid to move and slosh around within the tanker as the truck accelerates, brakes or stops suddenly, or turns a tight-corner. When a commercial truck is properly loaded, all of the cargo is properly balanced and secured to maximize stability which directly results in proper commercial truck proper handling. Unfortunately, liquid loads cannot be stored in the same manner as these solid physical loads. Additionally, when the tanker trucks are less than three-quarters (3/4) full, the liquid moving around in the tanker can create extreme weight shifts which may cause the Los Angeles Tanker Truck to go out of control which may result in a California Tanker Truck Accident. Additionally, when a tanker truck begins to roll-over, it will continue to roll because the liquid inside the tanker causes the tanker to continue to roll. These types of commercial truck accidents therefore often cause more injury. Additionally, if the liquid is flammable or hazardous, a fire or a toxic condition may result causing further serious harm or fatalities to other people.
Weight Restrictions of Commercial Tanker Trucks
All commercial trucks have both federal and California restrictions on weight and how much they can carry. Some commercial truck companies often calculate the liquid cargo based on the weight of water. However, most liquids have different densities which results in a unit of volume having different weights. The more dense a liquid, the more it will weigh. As many of the tanker trucks carry liquids more dense than water, their calculated weight is much lower than the actual commercial truck weight. But since the tanker truck is actually overloaded, it will most often result in serious or fatal truck accident injuries.
Commercial Tanker Trucks Transporting Hazardous and Flammable Materials
For truck drivers to be able to haul hazardous or flammable materials, the truck drivers are required to have special training as well as rigorous tests which the truck drivers are required to pass. But these truck drivers are also required to satisfy the general commercial truck driving requirements. Additionally, hazardous and flammable material may only be transported on approved roads and in particular areas.
If you or a loved has been seriously injured in a commercial tanker truck accident, there may be additional hazards or injuries if the tanker truck is carrying hazardous or flamable liquid. The contents of the tanker truck can result in a fire, explosion, contamination of the soil, contaimination of water as well as releasing hazardous or toxic fumes or chemicals into the air. Also, depending on the contents of the tanker truck, a tanker truck accident may result in an emergency evacuation of a city or town nearby the truck accident.
Call a California Tanker Truck Injury Attorney today or call us toll-free for a free confidential consultation at 800-715-4489.