Fatal Car Accidents in Cuyahoga County
Posted in: Car Accidents
KNR Legal Blog
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, our Ohio-based auto accident lawyers understand the devastating impact commercial truck crashes can have on your body, your livelihood, and your future. Knowing the science behind truck accidents isn’t just educational; it’s essential to understanding your injuries, proving liability, and securing the compensation you deserve.
If you or a loved one is hurt in a car vs. semi-truck accident in Ohio, contact KNR for a free, no-risk legal consultation.
Imagine you’re driving home on I-70 after a long day. Traffic is light, and you’re just a few miles from your exit. But without warning, a semi-truck veers into your lane. In an instant, everything changes.
Truck accidents are more devastating than typical auto wrecks because of the immense energy involved in a collision. When a fully loaded semi-truck collides with a 3,000-pound passenger car, the outcome is dictated by mass, momentum, and kinetic energy.
These aren’t abstract concepts, they’re the real, measurable forces that often determine the severity of the crash, the extent of injuries, and even who survives.
Mass is essentially where the destruction starts in a truck accident. Mass refers to the amount of matter in an object. In this case, it is a large, commercial vehicle. A fully loaded semi-truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, while the average passenger car weighs closer to 3,000 pounds. That means the truck is more than 25 times heavier.
In a crash, this imbalance matters a lot. When a heavier object collides with a lighter one, the lighter object absorbs most of the force. That’s why semi-truck accidents in Ohio often leave smaller vehicles mangled and their occupants with catastrophic injuries.
Imagine a moving bowling ball colliding with a soda can. The can takes all the damage. That’s what happens when a semi hits a car at highway speeds.
Momentum is a physics term that combines mass and speed. The heavier and faster something is, the more momentum it has. A semi-truck barreling down the highway at 65 mph has massive forward momentum. Which is far more than any passenger vehicle.
When an accident happens, that momentum doesn’t disappear. It must be transferred somewhere, usually into the smaller car, pushing, crushing, or flipping it over.
So, even if a trucker slams the brakes, their vehicle can take the length of two football fields to come to a full stop. There’s just no quick way to halt 80,000 pounds in motion.
Kinetic energy is the energy an object has because it’s moving. It increases exponentially with speed. This means that even a small increase in a truck’s speed results in a huge increase in the energy it delivers in a crash.
For example, a semi-truck traveling at 60 mph has much more destructive potential than one going 40 mph. This energy then gets released at the moment of impact and often transfers directly into the car’s frame and into the bodies of the people inside. That’s how you end up with spinal cord injuries, brain trauma, and crushed limbs in truck vs. car crashes.
Even with today’s advanced safety features, passenger cars simply aren’t built to withstand impacts with commercial trucks. The reason often comes down to a design mismatch, specifically in how cars and trucks are engineered to absorb and distribute crash forces.
Passenger vehicles are engineered with crumple zones and reinforced bumpers designed to absorb the energy of a crash, but only when the impact comes from similarly sized vehicles. In a collision with a semi-truck, these safety features often fail entirely. That’s because commercial trucks ride much higher off the ground, causing their front ends to bypass the car’s protective structures, sending the force of the impact directly into the cabin.
Two of the most devastating outcomes in a truck vs. car accident are underride and override crashes. In an underride, a car slides underneath a truck’s trailer, often resulting in the roof being sheared off, causing fatal injuries. In an override, the truck runs over a smaller car, crushing the vehicle and often those inside.
These violent crashes are often caused by poor visibility, lack of underride guards, or insufficient stopping distance, and the injuries are frequently catastrophic.
As you can see, the sheer force transferred into a passenger car in a truck accident is enormous, and this very frequently overwhelms even the most advanced safety features in automobiles. This leads to a wide range of catastrophic and life-altering injuries, many of which require extensive medical care and long-term support.
Even with airbags and seat belts, serious injuries are far more likely when a semi-truck is involved. The bumper absorbs much of the impact in a typical rear-end collision between cars. But a commercial truck’s weight and height can allow it to plow through the engine block and into the passenger compartment, leading to catastrophic injuries. Survivors may face long hospital stays, lasting disabilities, or a complete change in quality of life.
Because of this, any claim for truck accident compensation must consider long-term needs, including future medical treatment, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and emotional suffering. Victims may have the right to pursue a personal injury lawsuit or file a claim against the liable party.
Unfortunately, insurance companies often try to settle quickly for far less than what the case is truly worth. Don’t accept an early offer without understanding your legal options. At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, our Ohio truck accident lawyers fight for full and fair compensation, whether negotiating a strong settlement or taking your case to court.
Read What To Do After a Truck Accident in Ohio
Ohio Truck accident cases are rarely simple. That’s why you need more than just legal support—you need a team that understands both the science of the crash and the strategy behind a successful claim. At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we work with accident reconstructionists and medical experts to prove exactly what happened, how you were harmed, and what it will take to make you whole.
Contact KNR today for a free, no-risk consultation or call 1-800-HURT-NOW. We know the science and how to win if you’re hurt by a truck.