As temperatures continue to climb, many homeowners are visiting home improvement stores to pick up lumber, landscaping materials and other bulky items. Still, not every resident of New Jersey owns a box truck that can haul these objects. This leaves drivers scrambling for ways to carry large purchases home.
According to the New York Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, unsecured cargo is responsible for roughly 200,000 traffic accidents every single year. In these crashes, approximately 500 individuals die and nearly 40,000 suffer some type of injury.
Vehicle damage
If an object falls from a car, truck or SUV, it must land somewhere. Often, these objects collide with vehicles that are moving at highway speeds. If this happens to you, you may not be able to control your vehicle. Even worse, your car may sustain the sort of damage that makes it undrivable in a potentially hazardous place.
Evasive actions
It is not uncommon for drivers to try to maneuver around road debris. Still, it can be difficult to spot road hazards with sufficient time to change lanes or otherwise safely drive around them. If road debris takes you by surprise, you may wreck when trying not to hit it.
Road clean-up
If a piece of furniture or a large appliance falls from a vehicle, road crews may have little choice but to close the roadway. After all, it can be virtually impossible to remove large items when traffic is flying by. Changing traffic patterns and slower speeds can be disastrous for drivers who are not paying enough attention, though.
Ultimately, if you suffer an injury because of someone else’s unsecured cargo, you may have grounds to pursue financial compensation to help you pay for your accident-related expenses and other damages.