Semi-Trailer Accident Statistics This means that truck accidents account for about 6.5 percent of total accidents. However, truck accidents account for twice the percentage of fatal accidents. Of those 388,000 large truck accidents, 28 percent (107,000) resulted in injuries and more than 11 percent (4,41) resulted in a death. The Trucking Industry in the U.S.
UU. is constantly increasing, despite the fact that new and faster means of transport are being invented every day. Trucking is considered one of the most appropriate ways to transport goods in the United States, with approximately 70% of all products arriving at their destination via one type of truck. As any detailed truck accident statistics page will tell you, there are quite a few types of trucks on the roads today.
These differ mainly by the amount and type of cargo they can carry, with some specialized for frozen goods, while others handle a diverse and smaller load for nearby transport. Still, many people across the United States consider this to be their primary source of income and a lucrative source. Therefore, it is advisable to learn more about the most common causes of accidents, the statistics that result from them, and the best ways to improve them to achieve an overall safer environment. Injuries in a truck accident are often serious because of their enormous size and weight.
Serious injuries can include broken bones, back and neck injuries, head trauma, internal bleeding, damage to the spinal cord, and whiplash injury. These injuries require immediate medical attention and sometimes even multiple surgeries, which can be too costly. According to truck fatalities statistics by gender and vehicle type, male drivers mostly lose their lives in truck accidents. Also called giants of motor vehicles, trucks are the most dangerous and destructive vehicles on the roads.
Truck accident statistics show that among the top reasons for truck accidents are driver fatigue and inexperience. Because these vehicles are not easy to operate, truck drivers must be experienced and well-rested before hitting the road to ensure safe vehicle operation and maximum control. This could also be one of the many reasons for many deaths among male truck drivers. This is because there are only 20,000 truckers out of 3.5 million.
It shows that almost 94.2% are male truck drivers. When transporting dangerous loads, such as flammable liquids, it is essential to drive safely and cautiously. These are liquids that ignite, burn and therefore catch fire easily. Therefore, the risk of death of a truck is high in a collision for a truck driver carrying dangerous cargo because it is likely to explode or catch fire.
Other hazardous loads that can explode in an accident include combustible liquids, explosives, oxidizing substances, radioactive materials and flammable solids. Statistics show fairly stable numbers when it comes to victims of truck-related accidents, and the majority (97%) have been occupants of passenger vehicles. In addition, statistics have not changed much in the last decade, as passenger mortality rates are known to show a high casualty rate in passenger vehicles (98%). In recent years, there has been an overall decrease of 2% compared to car accidents in general.
However, this is not the case for larger cargo trucks, with the largest increase in the number of accidents recorded in trucks weighing between 10,000 and 14,000 pounds. Mortality rate increased by 5.8% specifically with tractor-trailers, exceeding 26,000 pounds in weight. The number of actual vehicle and truck occupant deaths per mile traveled per truck has declined in recent years, especially compared to 1975, when fatal accident data were initially collected. The numbers changed from 916 fatalities among occupants of large trucks and 2,757 deaths among occupants of vehicles per 81,330 truck miles to 683 and 2,797 deaths, respectively, for every 297,593 truck miles traveled.
Large platform accidents suffer a fatal collision with a vehicle in 74% of all crashes, 81% of all injury cases and 76% of all property damage cases. In other words, the first damaging event that occurs during a crash involving large trucks is precisely the collision with another vehicle. Instead, the FMCSA large truck accident causality study found that mechanical defects (with tires, most often), new travel routes, and fatigue are the most common causes of truck accidents. Aggressive driving has also been emphasized as a common cause, although it has had a direct effect in no more than 5% of cases.
Rather, consider the fact that only 0.4% of the shocks in the study were caused by illegal substance abuse, and 0.3% by alcohol consumption. It is understandable that large trucks weigh much more than a normal vehicle, especially when carrying the load to the maximum. As a result, their total weight often exceeds 40 tons, unlike your regular passenger vehicle, which normally weighs around 2.5 tons. Because of these circumstances, these trucks take much longer to stop than normal vehicles, and even more so if their load is not evenly and properly loaded onto the rear trailer.
Tractor-trailer vehicles, due to their enormous weight, require a longer braking distance than a normal passenger. For example, if the latter needed no more than 300 feet to stop after stepping on the brake, the former would take almost twice the distance (525 feet) with greater accuracy. Speed, mechanical readiness, and driver fatigue are also contributing factors to downtime, which are the common causes of these accidents. The heavy weight and long braking distances of tractor-trailers are the main reasons for fatal truck accidents.
Compared to single-unit trucks, tractor-trailers are very heavy. A fully loaded trailer can weigh approximately 80,000 pounds. In addition, a fully loaded tractor-trailer takes approximately 20-40% longer to stop after applying the brakes. This length is not one, but two football fields, making truck disasters inevitable.
This is because immediate braking is very necessary to avoid accidents or minimize the risk of injury in a collision. Of all fatalities from accidents involving large trucks, occupants of passenger vehicles potentially involved in accidents accounted for 2,797 deaths (68%). On the other hand, truck occupants accounted for 17%, or 683 deaths, while only 14% of all deaths were recorded among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists involved in such large truck accidents (580 deaths). Deaths from motor vehicle accidents in truck-related crashes account for 11% of all deaths in such accidents, i.e.
The remaining 89% of deaths (33,031) that occurred in car accidents were not due to major truck-related accidents, giving the general impression that trucks may not be as dangerous to motor vehicle traffic in general as they are thought to be. While this is the leading cause of fatal accidents, resulting in most fatalities, collisions with immovable objects and pedestrians are equally damaging. Fire and explosion are also considered to be among the most damaging events. Those who manage to make it out of large truck accidents alive will likely suffer multiple injuries.
These usually include fractures of bones, neck, spinal cord injuries, and damage to soft tissues and organs. Burns are just as common, especially in cases of crash-related explosions, and can be quite severe. The psychological toll for accident survivors can be just as difficult to cure, especially since many accidents can become traumatic enough to leave permanent marks on people's psyches. Truck occupants experience a much higher rollover mortality rate than occupants of other types of vehicles, mainly due to the specific characteristics of trucks.
The percentage of fatalities of truck occupants involved in rollover accidents is slightly lower 41%. Single-vehicle crashes and casualties are much more common in semi-trailer accidents, as the nature of the vehicle generates multiple hazards on its own. In contrast, occupants of passenger vehicles suffered death in 46% of cases, with more casualties caused by multi-vehicle crashes. As for vehicles involved in fatal crashes, only 17% of fatal truck accidents occurred in single-vehicle cases, compared to 37% for vehicles.
The most common fatal crashes for both trucks and passenger vehicles involved two vehicles (62% and 45% of all fatal crashes, respectively). This still leaves about half of the drivers with fatal injuries who did not have a seat belt or their condition was unknown. More specifically, 30% of truck drivers with fatal injuries were not wearing a seat belt, compared to 43% of passenger vehicle drivers. This leaves 19% of truck drivers with fatal injuries without firm evidence of seat belt use and only 8% of vehicle drivers with fatal injuries in the same situation.
Alternatively, 25% of occupants of passenger vehicles die when hit by the truck from the side, while impacts to the rear of the passenger vehicle cause only 5% of deaths among occupants. Another type of crash is also known to be more damaging to occupants of the passenger vehicle when the front of the passenger vehicle collides with the rear of the truck, causing 22% of occupant deaths. However, you don't need to be a truck driver to consider accident rates for semi-trailers or learn more about the most common defects of such tractor-trailers. It appears that other traffic participants are at the same risk of suffering such crashes as the specific occupants of the truck.
Of a total of 37,133 traffic accident fatalities in car accidents, 4,102 occurred with the involvement of a large truck or large platform. As such, these big ones account for about 11% of all road traffic fatalities worldwide, which is nothing to sneeze at. According to a study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 81% of the time, when there was a car and truck accident, drivers were assigned blame. On the contrary, this only happened for 27% of all truck drivers involved in this type of accident.
Truck driver accident reports are just one of the recorded forms of crashes that occur in the U.S. UU. Altogether, it is estimated that there are around 500,000 truck accidents per year. More than half of reversing accidents, up to 70%, involve large trucks or similar medium-sized vehicles.
According to truck accident statistics, the vast majority of these accidents occur due to mechanical difficulties, especially those related to tires or brakes. Apart from that, most accidents are caused by driver fatigue, lack of information about the route, as well as work pressure and aggressive driving. Truck drivers have a disproportionately high accident rate per driver compared to other license holders. Truckers make up 0.008% of all licensed drivers, but are involved in 8% of all car accidents in.
In other words, a commercial truck driver is a thousand times more likely to suffer an accident than the average driver. While this is partly due to the large number of miles a truck driver travels in a year, it's clear that the number of crashes is disproportionately high. We don't need to convince you that trucks and tractor-trailers are dangerous for the road. Simple common sense will tell you that they have a greater drive than normal passenger vehicles (because they are bulkier) even when traveling at similar speeds.
In addition, they are more difficult to control and have large blind spots that prevent truck drivers from fully absorbing their environment. Through a truck accident lawsuit, drivers of large trucks and their companies can't get away with their negligent actions. Because Texas drivers share highways and highways with working commercial truck drivers, they must prepare for dangerous situations, as well as for the worst-case scenario, driving life after a truck accident. Tractor-trailer and large truck crash investigations require the expertise of an attorney with substantial truck collision experience.
Hiring an experienced lawyer will greatly increase your chances of holding the trucking company accountable and receiving fair compensation for your injuries. Most victims of truck accidents, whether injuries or fatalities, travel in a passenger vehicle at the time of the crash. Apparently, the negligence of truck drivers, as well as that of the remaining vehicles in the respective area, is the main reason behind such accidents. Contact a truck accident law firm to see if you qualify to file a lawsuit and how much your case may be worth.
Truck accidents caused by improper maneuvering are becoming more common, as new truck drivers have much less training than industry veterans. Working with an experienced truck accident lawyer can help you get the compensation you deserve for your injuries and suffering. . .
