Anyone who drives regularly in Hampton Roads knows how much time is spent crossing water. Between the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, and the region’s many spans, local motorists share these crossings with heavy commercial trucks every day. Those same bridges, however, present hazards that ordinary stretches of highway do not, and for a fully loaded tractor-trailer the risks are magnified considerably. State police have long cautioned that bridges can be especially dangerous for large trucks because of conditions like high winds. When a truck loses control on a bridge, the consequences for everyone nearby can be severe, and a Norfolk truck accident lawyer will look carefully at whether those conditions, and the driver’s response to them, contributed to the crash.
Our firm has represented injured clients throughout Virginia and North Carolina since 1985, and we handle injury cases exclusively. Understanding why bridges pose such a distinct danger helps explain how these crashes happen and who may bear responsibility.
Wind
Wind is the most obvious threat. It can sweep across an open bridge with considerable force, particularly on a span that crosses a river or harbor where nothing blocks the gusts. A tractor-trailer presents a tall, broad surface for that wind to push against, and the result can be a toppled trailer or an overturned cab.
The danger is well documented. In its most recent national crash data, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reported that rollovers were the most harmful event in roughly 4 percent of fatal large-truck crashes. High winds, along with rain and ice, add lateral force against a tall trailer and make a rollover far more likely. A responsible driver should reduce speed and, in extreme conditions, stay off an exposed span altogether.
Ice
The warning signs are familiar for a reason: a bridge freezes before the road. Unlike ordinary pavement, a bridge deck is not insulated by the ground beneath it. It is exposed to cold air on every side, top and bottom, so it loses heat quickly and ices over while the surrounding roadway remains clear. Drivers should watch for ice on a bridge even when the rest of their route appears dry, and truck operators in particular need to account for the greatly increased stopping distance ice creates.
Narrow Lanes
Some bridges, especially older or smaller ones, have narrower lanes than the adjoining roadway, and a few reduce to a single lane. When a wide, heavy tractor-trailer shares a confined lane with passenger vehicles, even a small drift can close the gap between them in an instant.
No Shoulder
Bridges rarely offer the wide shoulders that make a safe pull-off possible on an ordinary highway. If a vehicle becomes disabled on a span, there is often nowhere to move it and little room to escape oncoming traffic. A large truck has even more difficulty maneuvering around a stopped vehicle than a passenger car does, which turns a disabled vehicle on a bridge into a serious hazard for everyone behind it.
Visibility Problems
Many bridges rise toward the center, and that upward curve can hide what is happening on the far side of the crest until a driver is nearly upon it. Fog rolling off a river or harbor adds another layer of difficulty, reducing visibility precisely where there is the least room to react. For a truck driver who needs more time and distance to slow a heavy rig, limited sightlines are especially dangerous.
Chain-Reaction Crashes
These factors compound one another. Restricted visibility, narrow lanes, and the absence of a shoulder together make bridges common locations for chain-reaction collisions. Once one vehicle stops or crashes, the drivers behind may have no room to steer clear and too little distance to stop. When a tractor-trailer is part of that sequence, its size and weight can turn a minor incident into a multi-vehicle pileup with catastrophic results.
Determining Liability After a Bridge Crash
Bad weather does not automatically excuse a truck driver or the company behind them. Commercial drivers are trained and required to adjust to the conditions in front of them, which means reducing speed in high wind, increasing following distance on an icy deck, and recognizing when a load or a span is simply too dangerous to attempt. When a driver ignores those obligations, or when a carrier pressures a driver to keep a schedule despite hazardous conditions, that negligence can support a claim regardless of the weather.
Establishing what happened requires prompt investigation of the driver’s conduct, the carrier’s dispatch decisions, weather and road data, and the physical evidence from the scene. That work is central to how we handle these cases. Our firm has secured more than $100 million in settlements and verdicts. Results depend on the facts of each case, but an outcome of that kind reflects the detailed development of evidence a serious truck accident claim demands.
Injured in a Bridge or Highway Truck Crash? Reach Out Today
If you or a loved one has been injured in a crash involving a commercial truck on a bridge or anywhere else, a Norfolk truck accident lawyer at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp can review the circumstances, determine who is responsible, and pursue the full compensation you may be owed. Contact us at 833-997-1774 for a free consultation with one of our dedicated Norfolk truck accident attorneys. We have offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, and we are ready to put our experience to work for you and your family.