What Is a Sitting Duck Truck Accident?

Odds are, you’ve heard the term “sitting duck” at some point in your life, but did you know it’s used to describe a type of motor vehicle accident?

A sitting duck truck accident refers to collisions involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) that are stopped on the side of the road or highway. When this happens, the truck driver is extremely vulnerable – they become a sitting duck – and several situations could lead to them being struck by another vehicle.

Unfortunately, sitting duck truck crashes in Louisiana frequently cause catastrophic or fatal injuries; broken bones, crush injuries, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), and burn injuries are common. All parties involved in the crash can be injured, and certain types of collisions increase the risks.

A sitting duck truck accident is sometimes referred to as an “underride crash”. These collisions are particularly dangerous for the driver and passengers of a car that collides with a stopped truck because it slides under the trailer. The height of the car when it crashes into the side and slides underneath often leads victims to suffer severe or fatal head and upper body injuries.

Why are Trucks Pulled Over on Louisiana Highways?

Seeing commercial trucks pulled over on the side of the road is a common occurrence on Louisiana’s highways.

Examples of why commercial trucks are stopped on a highway include:

• Mechanical issues
• Flat tires
• Mandatory rest requirements
• Load issues
• Bad weather
• Traffic congestion
• Road hazards

Regardless of why a truck pulls over, it’s extremely dangerous. Sometimes, truck drivers park on the shoulder for reasons they aren’t allowed to do so, resulting in crashes that should never occur. Our firm is currently handling a wrongful death case like this.

The lawsuit involves a truck driver who stopped to sleep in a clear zone where she wasn’t permitted to rest. The family we’re representing is of the deceased driver of a vehicle that crashed into the parked truck after losing control because of a tire blowout. The result was fatal, leaving a family grieving the devastating accident, the outcome of which may have been much different if the truck driver hadn’t been stopped in a clear zone.

What Makes Stopped Truck Accidents So Dangerous?

In 2024, around 34% of commercial vehicle crashes in Louisiana occurred on interstates. Some of these accidents were with trucks parked on the shoulder.

There are numerous risks associated with stopped commercial vehicles, especially on highways. Several factors make these crashes particularly dangerous.

First, the size and weight of 18-wheelers make the impact of collisions greater. But where sitting duck truck accidents occur also contributes to the severity of an accident. Trucks use major highways across Louisiana to pick up and deliver goods. This means the vehicles passing a stopped truck are traveling at high speeds, increasing the risk of serious injury.

Another factor is what happens leading up to the accident. Being able to brake or react in a way that reduces the force of impact or changes which part of the parked truck is struck can affect the outcome.

There are several reasons a vehicle could collide with a truck stopped on the side of the road. Distracted drivers who drift onto the shoulder, tire blowouts or mechanical failures that cause a driver to lose control, and poor weather or low visibility can lead to a sitting duck truck accident.

Crashes involving other vehicles and truck drivers who don’t place warning triangles to alert other drivers of the stopped commercial vehicle are other causes of these crashes.

Liability in Sitting Duck Truck Accidents

There were 3,903 commercial vehicle accidents in Louisiana in 2024, resulting in 2,030 injuries and 75 deaths. Many of these accidents were preventable, which makes the resulting life-changing injuries among victims and the immeasurable grief of families who lost loved ones even more devastating.

There are specific laws in Louisiana regarding stopped trucks on highways and hours-of-service regulations for drivers that may come into play in parked truck accident lawsuits. In general, emergencies are the only reason truck drivers are allowed to stop on the shoulder of an interstate highway. They may not pull over to rest or sleep, as happened in the wrongful death lawsuit our firm is handling.

When an emergency occurs, drivers are required to turn on their hazard lights and place warning triangles for safety. When they don’t, the result can be catastrophic.

Liability in sitting duck truck accident lawsuits in Louisiana can be determined by an experienced attorney who investigates the circumstances and asks key questions. Why the truck was stopped, if warning devices were deployed, where it happened, if there was a safer, nearby location available to the driver, and the trucking company’s shoulder-parking policies must all be considered by an 18-wheeler accident lawyer.

Depending on the answers to these questions, there may be more than one party liable for your injuries or the death of a loved one.

Both the driver of the stopped truck and the company they work for could be held accountable for what happened if the truck was parked in a non-emergency situation at the time of the crash. Failing to properly warn drivers by turning on hazard lights and placing triangles is another factor that could affect liability in a truck accident lawsuit of this kind.

If you or someone you love was involved in a crash with a parked 18-wheeler in Louisiana, we can help. Contact our firm online or at 1-844-943-7626 for a free consultation.