Driving has always been a liberating activity, the closest a human can come to flying. With such a feeling, anyone cannot help but feel carefree, powerful, and giddy—until they run smack into an 18-wheeler speeding like a madman to meet its deadline. Such a shuddering scene is not too removed from reality, as thousands of car crashes and road accidents have cost monetary losses and lives in the United States every year. Road accidents may all be one and the same in being the tragic, unnecessary catastrophes that they are, but as a matter of fact, they can be classified according to the manner of the crash.

Straight On To Crashing

The enormous difference in size between an 18-wheeler truck and the ordinary puny automobile closes the gap between safety and peril, life and death. Among the most disastrous kinds of automobile accidents are head-on collisions. Most often, one or both vehicles are moving at high speed especially in freeways and interstate highways. At such speeds, collisions are particularly catastrophic because of the mass of the track and the momentum. There doesn't even have to be a second vehicle in order to figure in a head-on collision.

Underrides With "Roving Guillotines"

Underride accidents usually involve a huge, heavy tractor trailer truck and at least one other vehicle, but the smaller vehicle(s) usually face(s) the greater casualty. Trailer trucks are much more elevated than the average automobile, sometimes such that an entire smaller vehicle can almost pass underneath it. In an underride collision, that possibility of the smaller vehicle passing underneath the truck is severely tested with only a gruesome outcome. When this happens, especially when collision was initiated from the rear, the trailer breaks into the occupant compartment of the smaller car, causing critical injury that sometimes include decapitation, thus what outraged concerned citizens dub "roving guillotines."

Fold It Like A Jackknife

The distinctive bulk of a trailer truck subjects it to distinct kinds of smashups. In some instances, they don't even have to look further than their enormous bodies. Jackknife accidents most commonly occur when brakes are suddenly applied in a tractor trailer. On the other hand, poorly maintained braking systems can cause jackknifing. Furthermore, anytime the angle between the centerline of the truck and semi-trailer exceeds fifteen degrees, a jackknife situation is waiting to occur. Other situations in which a jackknife accident can happen include downshifting, accelerating on low-friction surfaces, using engine retarders, and approaching a curve at high speed.