Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Hello again. This is Clark Schoeder with Cerberus Subrogation Professionals, LLC with another article about trucking insurance issues. Over the last few weeks, we discussed a few topics that should help you and your company recover the damages that result from an auto accident. We discussed what a driver should do when they are in an accident to protect their recovery opportunities , we discussed what an insurance company owes you when you are in an accident, and we discussed what is subrogation and how it affects your money. This week we are going to start a series of articles discussing common trucking accidents that your insurance company or claims department needs to deny. Let’s get to it.

This week’s article is about “Right-hand Squeeze” Accidents. While I am sure that you all know what a “right hand squeeze” accident is, let’s go over it just to make sure that we are all talking about the same thing. A “right-hand squeeze” accident is an accident that occurs while an 18 wheeler is making a necessary wide right turn and another vehicle attempts to pass the 18 wheeler on the right side in between the trailer and the curb. The other vehicle fails to consider the off-track of the trailer and is consequentially “squeezed” between the trailer and the curb. As the 18 wheeler proceeds through his turn, the trailer drags alongside the other vehicle and causes considerable damage.

This is one of the most common accidents involving commercial tractor trailers and almost every commercial trucking insurance company pays this type of claim. THEY SHOULDN’T! THESE CLAIMS NEED TO BE DENIED. Commercial tractor trailers are allowed to perform wide right turns under the traffic laws of every state and I have never lost a “right-hand squeeze” arbitration case. Why then, do insurance companies accept liability and pay claims for these types of accidents? It has to do with the police report. Most police officers do not deal with commercial tractor trailers and they don’t consider the physical limitations of the vehicle you are driving. This leads most police officers to improperly place you at-fault for the accident due to “improper turning” or turning from the wrong lane/position on the roadway. They could not be more wrong but that doesn’t matter to most claims adjusters who take the police report as the word of God. Your claims adjuster needs to understand that the police report is not infallible and they have to be willing to stand up for you despite the police report. You need to dictate to your insurance company that you want all “right-hand squeeze” accidents denied. If your insurance company is unable to protect you against these types of accidents, tell your insurance company that you want Cerberus Subrogation Professionals, LLC to handle your arbitration cases. We have developed an extremely successful defense for these cases. When your insurance company pays claims in which you are not legally liable, they unduly force your loss ratio and your insurance premium to increase.

What can you do to protect yourself from the dreaded “right-hand squeeze”?

1. Always use your turn signal and clearly communicate your intention to turn to other drivers.
2. When possible, try to position the rear of your trailer in the right lane to block any attempt to pass you during your turn.
3. Make your turn slowly. This gives any vehicle alongside you enough time to clear your vehicle and it will also reduce the damage caused by the accident if the other vehicle doesn’t clear your vehicle.
4. If the cross street is multiple lanes, try to turn to the furthest inside lane.
5. When you speak the police officer that responds to the scene, be polite and explain that you did everything in your power to clearly signal your intention to turn to the other driver. You activated your turn signal, you blocked the right lane with your trailer, and you performed your turn slowly to give the other party time to react. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TELL THE OFFICER THAT YOU ARE ALLOWED TO MAKE WIDE RIGHT TURNS UNDER THE LAW. Even though you are right, you are just going to aggravate the officer. No one likes to be told how to do their job. This is especially true of the police.
6. Put signs on your trailers that indicate that “This vehicle makes wide right turns.” The other driver won’t be able to plead ignorance.

Be sure to check back for our Next article “Swoop and Stop – Is your insurance company doing enough to protect you?” and please be sure to email our articles to all of your friends, family, and colleagues in the trucking industry.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future articles, please leave a comment on this site and I will be sure to address them. Thanks for reading.

Clark Schoeder is the President and CEO of Cerberus Subrogation Professionals, LLC. Cerberus Subrogation Professionals, LLC is a subrogation firm that specializes in the commercial trucking sector. They have helped their clients recover millions of dollars in insurance claims and have developed several innovative strategies specifically designed for commercial auto subrogation and arbitration. Those strategies have achieved unparalleled results. If you are interested in applying the Cerberus Advantage to your subrogation and recovery processes, visit their website www.cerberussubro.com .