Rear-End Truck Accident Lawyer
A fully loaded semi-truck traveling 65 mph needs roughly 525 feet to stop — nearly double a passenger car's stopping distance. When a truck rear-ends a vehicle or fails to stop for stopped traffic, that gap is usually explained by following too closely, speeding, distraction, or fatigue.
Key Takeaways
- Trucks need far more stopping distance than cars — professional drivers are trained to compensate.
- Following too closely for conditions is a frequent contributing factor.
- Black box data captures speed and braking in the seconds before impact.
- Truck-on-car rear-end crashes carry a high risk of severe injury given the size disparity.
Stopping distance is the whole case
CDL training exists specifically to teach drivers to manage a truck's dramatically longer stopping distance — larger following gaps, earlier braking, and constant awareness of traffic ahead. A rear-end crash usually means one of these disciplines broke down: the driver followed too closely, was distracted, was fatigued, or was moving too fast for the traffic and conditions.
Rear-end crashes involving trucks are also common in stopped or slowed highway traffic — construction zones, congestion, and sudden slowdowns where a truck's stopping distance runs out before the driver can react.
Building the fault case
The truck's black box records speed and braking in the seconds before impact, showing whether the driver braked at all, how hard, and how late. Dashcam footage, phone records, and hours-of-service logs round out the picture of why the driver didn't stop in time.
Because the size and weight disparity between a truck and a passenger car is so extreme, rear-end truck crashes frequently produce severe or fatal injuries even at moderate speeds — which is reflected in typical settlement ranges.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is the truck driver always at fault in a rear-end crash?+
Not automatically, but professional drivers are held to a higher standard for following distance and reaction time, so fault frequently rests with the truck in these crashes.
How much distance should a truck keep behind other vehicles?+
Training generally recommends at least one second of following distance per 10 feet of vehicle length at speeds under 40 mph, and additional distance above that — far more than passenger car norms.
What evidence proves the truck was following too closely?+
Black box speed/braking data, dashcam video, witness statements, and crash reconstruction based on skid marks and final vehicle positions.