6 Most Common Truck Accident Injuries (June 2025)

Common Causes of Truck Accidents

Collisions can occur for many reasons, but one of the most common problems that truck accident lawyers see when representing clients is distracted driving. Truckers spend hours behind the wheel, and that can cause boredom, leading them to be more distracted as they change radio stations or read billboards.

Speeding is also a problem. Often, truckers are trying to make fast deliveries, and that can mean speeding. The injuries accidents involving speeding trucks can cause might be catastrophic.

Fatigue is a concern for truckers, too. There are strict federal guidelines that state how many hours they can work, but many companies incentivize truckers to circumvent these laws. An exhausted truck driver is more prone to make mistakes and can lose control of the vehicle.

There are loading issues that could lead to collisions. Truck cargo needs to be loaded and fastened correctly so that it doesn’t move during transport. If it does, it could shift the truck’s center of gravity, potentially leading to jackknife accidents or other serious crashes.

Another common cause of collisions is defective trucks. Before being allowed on the road, the vehicles must be inspected to ensure they are roadworthy. Defective brakes or damaged tires can lead to disastrous crashes.

Common Truck Accident Injuries

Like auto accidents, truck accidents can result in a variety of injuries that could leave you with long-term health issues.

1. Back and Neck Injuries

When people think of collisions of any type, whiplash is a frequent injury that comes to mind. Whiplash occurs when your head moves rapidly back and forth in a whip-like motion, straining the muscles in your neck. Although it’s usually a mild injury, a severe accident can leave you with chronic pain and movement restrictions.

Some of the most serious truck accident injuries are those involving your back and spinal cord. These can include herniated discs. Your discs are the cushions that sit between your spinal cord vertebrae. If they bulge out as a result of trauma, you can experience severe and lasting back pain. This pain is often in your lower back.

Perhaps most concerning of all, however, are injuries that result in paralysis. They usually occur in truck accidents involving high speeds or when vehicles roll over.

2. Burn Injuries

Burn injury lawyers often represent people who have been in traffic collisions. Engines can overheat in a crash, and parts of vehicles can scald the skin. When it comes to commercial truck accidents, there is a further worry that the cargo it carries will be corrosive or flammable, making explosions, fires and chemical burns more likely.

3. Broken Bones

Another of the most common truck accident injuries is broken bones. These crashes are often so powerful that they can result in broken ribs when you hit the airbag or broken legs or arms if you brace yourself during impact. It may also be more likely that the fractures will be compound ones that require serious healing time.

4. Internal Injuries

A truck crash could lead you to suffer organ damage and internal bleeding as well. These are often very difficult injuries to treat and can be deadly, depending on how much damage your organs have sustained. One complex aspect of these wounds is that you often won’t know you sustained them until days after the crash.

5. Head Trauma

Hitting your head during these forceful accidents can mean suffering brain injuries like concussions. These occur when your brain shifts and hits your skull, causing brain cells to die. Diffuse axonal injuries are among the most deadly injuries, and they involve the brain’s connective fibers tearing as the brain shifts in your skull.

6. Emotional Trauma

Accidents that are as severe as those involving commercial trucks can leave you with all manner of emotional trauma. You can experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues that don’t allow you to live your life as you want.

Steps to Take After a Truck Accident

Truck accidents often result in injuries. You may not always realize that you’ve been hurt, however, because of the shock of being in a crash. By getting paramedics to the scene of the accident, you can get assessed and receive the immediate care you need.

Be sure to call law enforcement, too. They will investigate the accident and write a report that you can later use to file a claim and seek a personal injury settlement. Ask law enforcement how you can get a copy of the report.

If you’re well enough to remain at the scene, start collective evidence. Take pictures and videos of the vehicles, the road and your injuries. If you need to go to the hospital, have someone else collect evidence for you.

Look for witnesses. If possible, ask them for their testimonies there, but if not, at least get their contact information so your attorney can speak with them.

Be sure to let your insurer know that you were in a crash. Once you hang up with them, immediately contact a truck accident lawyer to help you fight for the compensation you deserve.

Your Legal Options After a Truck Accident

One of the options you have if you were in a collision and suffered losses because of another party’s conduct is to file a truck accident lawsuit. A lawsuit can help you recover compensation for the losses you’ve experienced. To accomplish this, you’ll have to demonstrate that the other party is liable, which typically involves proving negligence.

Proving negligence tends to start with gathering evidence, such as DOT records, that shows the defendant owed you a duty of care, such as driving lawfully and safely, that they breached. If they were speeding, distracted or intoxicated behind the wheel, for example, that would point to a breach. You must then establish that the defendant’s conduct resulted in injuries for which you can be compensated.

When dealing with truck accidents, the trucker is often to blame, but the trucking company may also be liable. This occurs as a result of vicarious liability, which means that a company is responsible for the actions of its employees. That would likely not apply, however, if the driver was an independent contractor.

Because of all of these complexities, it’s essential to have a truck accident lawyer helping you fight for your rights.

Finding Reliable and Experienced Truck Accident Lawyers

After suffering any type of injury in a truck accident that requires medical care, a legal option you may have is to file a claim against the party that caused the collision. This is not something you want to undertake on your own, however, because you could be putting your compensation at risk. Instead, it’s best to partner with a skilled lawyer.

At ConsumerShield, we can connect you with trusted attorneys in your area who can help you recover the losses you suffered. We help you find the right person from among carefully vetted lawyers who have experience representing truck accidents and know how to pursue these cases effectively. Contact us to speak with our team about your case today.