Semi-truck accident kills man turning left in Royal Palm Beach
A Semi-truck accident kills man turning left earlier this year. A thirty-year old man was killed and another person were injured in a recent early-morning collision involving a passenger vehicle and a semi-truck in Royal Palm Beach on a recent early morning. According to Palm Beach Fire Rescue, units responded to several 911 calls of an accident and discovered a semi-truck and a Honda SUV, both with heavy damage, when they arrived on scene.
A report from CBS 12 in Palm Beach on the accident advised that the Honda turned into the semi-truck’s path and the semi-truck was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident. The Honda was determined to be at fault given that the semi-truck had the right of way at the time. The Honda driver was pronounced dead at the scene, while the semi-truck driver was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries.
This tragedy simply highlights the dangers of left hand turns, which make up a disproportionate number of accidents given they are more difficult maneuvers that are difficult for even the best drivers.
The Dangers of Left Hand Turns
Left hand turns are the most dangerous type of traffic maneuver that someone can make. A 2021 article from influential science publication Popular Mechanics reported that approximately 61 percent of all accidents that take place at intersections involve a left hand turn in some way, shape or form. The reason is that left-hand turns have you proceeding directly into oncoming traffic before starting to turn your wheel and also require that people make a judgment call as to when it is safe to make a turn, which many people are notoriously bad at. Add this to short traffic lights for left hand turns at many intersections and this is a recipe for disaster. The author even went so far as to note that some recent research had actually suggested banning left hand turns in some place given how dangerous the maneuvers are and how some crowded city intersections had successfully done so and reduced the number of accidents at those intersections as a result.
The dangers of a left-hand turn are particularly amplified when a large vehicle like a semi-truck is involved. Heavy vehicles like semi-trucks cannot stop as quickly as a passenger vehicle. Although it is unclear if this is what occurred in this particular incident, the Honda driver very well may have misjudged the speed of the semi-truck and his ability to complete a left-hand turn
Contact Schwed, Adams & McGinley
At Schwed, Adams & McGinley, P.A., our experienced personal injury attorneys have more than 200 years of combined practice representing over 15,000 victims of all sorts of motor vehicle accidents, and other sorts of personal injury scenarios, including motor vehicle accidents that occurred when someone was turning left. Therefore, if you were injured in a motor vehicle accident that somehow involved a left-hand turn in Florida, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Schwed, Adams & McGinley, P.A. today at 877-694-6079 or contact@schwedlawfirm.com for a free consultation.