Some Troubling Statistics About Truck Accidents

Most people have a healthy fear about driving on the road with large trucks. They are intimidating because drivers know that in an instant, if the truck driver slips up just once, that could mean a terrible accident.
Unfortunately these accidents happen frequently, and are typically caused by negligence. To put these accidents in perspective, compiled in this article are statistics from the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. The information listed may be shocking, but will serve to prove just how many people are entitled to personal injury claims because of truck accidents.

In a years’ time in the United States, 5,000 people lost their lives because of accidents involving large trucks. Even more were injured, numbering 106,000. You may look at these statistics and think that some of them might have been caused by passenger vehicles. This would be true, but a sweeping

majority (85%) of the deaths that occurred were passengers in vehicles and not truck drivers. This shows that truck drivers are most commonly the cause because the majority of victims are passengers of vehicles. Large trucks are also more often involved in motor vehicle accidents, statistically.

There are more things that could go wrong with large trucks than passenger vehicles. This is true, but truck accidents are so much more dangerous because of the sheer size of these vehicles. A statistic that is even more troubling is that these accidents are most commonly caused by truck driver fatigue. Truck drivers are forced to work long hours in order to meet deadlines. Although there have been many laws passed in an attempt to curb fatigue, trucking companies can make their employees forge their driving records. Drivers are mandated to take necessary resting breaks after driving for certain lengths of time. If they are under pressure of a deadline, they may not take these breaks which can cause fatigue-related accidents.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, truck drivers who have been behind the wheel for a period of 8 hours or more are twice as likely to be involved in an accident. Surveys of these drivers have reported in the past an estimated 20% of drivers who admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at least once just within the month prior to the survey. Another contributing factor to truck accidents is unskilled drivers. Many trucking companies hire under-qualified drivers when they are in a bind. According to federal officials, truck licensing fraud has taken place in at least 24 states. This means that as many as thousands of truck drivers currently on the road do not possess the necessary skills to do their jobs safely.