Wide-turn and blind-spot truck crashes in Indiana

A tractor-trailer cannot turn as tightly as a car, and its driver cannot see large areas beside and behind the trailer. Those limits explain many crashes at intersections and on multi-lane highways like I-465. But they are known limits, and truck drivers and carriers are expected to account for them.

Who is at fault when a turning or lane-changing truck hits you in Indiana?

Often the truck driver. Indiana law says a driver may turn or change lanes only when the move can be made with reasonable safety and must signal first (IC 9-21-8-24). A truck’s blind spots and wide turns are known hazards that drivers are trained to manage. Fault still depends on the facts, and Indiana compares everyone’s share.

Wide right turns: the “squeeze play”

To clear a corner, a semi often swings left before turning right, or starts the turn from a lane away from the curb. A car or motorcycle that moves into the gap on the right can be crushed as the trailer tracks inward. Indiana law generally requires a right turn to be made as close as practical to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway (IC 9-21-8-21), and it requires turns to be made only when they can be made with reasonable safety and with an appropriate signal (IC 9-21-8-24).

Questions that often decide fault in a wide-turn crash:

• Did the truck signal, and for how long?
• Where was the truck positioned before the turn, and did it block the right lane?
• Did the driver check the right-side mirrors throughout the turn?
• Was the car already alongside the truck before the truck started its turn?
• Was the truck on an appropriate route, or on a street poorly suited to large trucks?

Blind spots (“no-zones”)

Large trucks have blind spots directly in front of the cab, along both sides (especially the right side), and directly behind the trailer. Many lane-change crashes happen when a truck merges into a car traveling in one of those zones. Indiana law prohibits changing lanes unless the movement can be made with reasonable safety (IC 9-21-8-24), and commercial vehicles must be operated in line with the laws of the state where they are driven (49 CFR 392.2).

Truck drivers use multiple mirrors, and many modern trucks have additional cameras or side-detection systems. Whether the driver used them, and whether the carrier trained the driver, are fair questions after a crash.

Can the car driver share fault?

Trucking companies often argue that the other driver lingered in a blind spot or tried to pass on the right during a turn. Indiana uses modified comparative fault: an injured person’s damages are reduced by his or her percentage of fault, and recovery is barred only if that fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone else (IC 34-51-2-5 and 34-51-2-6). So even when a driver’s position is debated, a claim is often still possible.

Evidence that helps prove what happened

• Truck camera video. Many carriers use forward-facing and sometimes side or driver-facing cameras.
• Engine and telematics data showing speed, turn signal use (on some systems), and braking.
• Traffic and business cameras at intersections, which may be recorded over quickly.
• Vehicle damage patterns, which can show where the car was relative to the trailer.
• The driver’s training records and the carrier’s safety policies.
• Witness statements, especially from drivers behind the truck.

Learn more about truck black box and ELD evidence and why it should be preserved quickly.

Where these crashes happen in Indiana

Wide-turn crashes are common at urban intersections, shopping center entrances, and truck stops. Blind-spot crashes are common on busy multi-lane interstates with frequent merges and interchanges, such as I-465 around Indianapolis, and in congested freight corridors.

Motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians

Riders and people on foot are especially vulnerable in a truck’s right-side blind spot during turns. If you were hurt while riding or walking, see our pages on motorcycle accidents and pedestrian and bicycle accidents.

Who may be responsible

• The truck driver, for an unsafe turn or lane change or failure to signal or check mirrors.
• The motor carrier, for the driver’s conduct on the job and for its own training, routing, and equipment choices.
• In some cases, a company that loaded the trailer so it blocked the driver’s view; federal rules prohibit cargo that obscures the driver’s view to the sides (49 CFR 392.9).

Sideswiped or squeezed by a turning truck in Indiana? Call 1-800-265-9881 or send the free case review form.

General information only—not legal advice. Laws change and every case is different; deadlines can be shorter in some situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.