Jacksonville Injury Attorney Blog
A 60-year-old woman was killed in a tragic automobile accident early this morning in Jacksonville. The car accident occurred while the woman was traveling north on New Kings Road. As she was passing through a green light at the intersection of Dunn Avenue, a pickup truck driving south turned left onto Dunn Avenue heading east. The driver of the pickup did not see the woman’s car, which crashed into the left side of his truck. The woman died upon impact. The southbound lanes on Kings Road were closed for about an hour after the car accident, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Unfortunately, car accidents involving cars and pickup trucks almost always result in the car and its passengers sustaining much more damage than the truck. This is due in part to the truck’s weight – anywhere from 7,000 to 12,000 pounds, compared to just 4,000 pounds for an average car. The massive weight translates to the car receiving a greater share of the impact.
Another contributing factor is the height difference between a truck and a car. The best scenario in a car accident is for both vehicles to hit each other’s crumple zone, or crush zone. These are the areas on a vehicle, such as bumpers, designed to crumple during the crash, absorbing the impact and protecting the passengers from being crushed. However, in a car versus. truck accident, the truck’s bumpers or “crumple zone” is much higher than the car’s, referred to as “crash incompatibility.”
Because of this, when a car collides with a truck, the height difference between the two vehicles can cause the truck to literally ride up over the car’s floor and invade the passenger area. The good news is that compatibility has improved over the years, although pickups still tend to cause more damage than SUVs when colliding with a car, according to a USA Today report.
The fact that a pickup truck’s weight is usually much heavier in the front – especially if there is no cargo in the bed – also adds to the likelihood of fishtailing or losing control. Their size and construction make them less agile and less capable of avoiding collisions. A higher center of gravity in pickup trucks causes them to rollover more than cars do.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that it is unclear whether efforts to correct the height mismatch between cars and trucks has led to less fatalities. In fact, the NHTSA report shows that in 2010, 2,740 people died in cars colliding with SUVs or pickups, while 749 passengers the trucks died. Vehicle crashes with pickups led to five percent more car fatalities, and there was no reduction in fatalities for about 50 percent of the vehicles in the study.
Written by Elizabeth Allen
A car accident can be one of the most devastating events a person can face. Loss of wages, personal injuries and medical costs can be overwhelming. Let us help. Contact our Jacksonville car accident attorneys. We will give you a free consultation and meet at a place convenient to you.