Statistics on accidents involving large trucks

Many Kentucky drivers have come across the aftermath of truck accidents, and some may have been involved in one. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a comprehensive report on large truck accidents that might be of interest, and it contains some statistics concerning those types of incidents that took place around the country during the 2012 calendar year.

Of the 333,000 collisions involving large trucks in 2012, there were approximately 104,000 injuries and 3,921 fatalities. This number increased substantially from 2011, although no definitive reason for the increase could be cited. Deaths were divided between the occupants of large trucks, occupants of the other vehicles and pedestrians. Approximately 18 percent of the fatalities happened to the people inside the truck, and 10 percent happened to pedestrians and other people who were not inside a vehicle at the time. The remainder of all fatalities happened to occupants of other vehicles that were involved in a large truck collision.

In this and other ways, the NHTSA’s analysis suggested that truck drivers were not alone to blame for these crashes. Although issues such as inadequate training and overly tired commercial drivers were cited as root causes for many accidents, in many cases the accidents were caused by passenger vehicles driving near the trucks. Automobile drivers have been observed to engage in all manner of risky behaviors that cause serious consequences to both themselves and the truck.

People who have been hurt in a crash involving a negligent driver of a large truck may seek compensation from the driver as well as the driver’s employer in some cases. An attorney’s advice might be helpful to those who wish to obtain legal redress by filing a personal injury lawsuit.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Large Trucks”, accessed on Jan. 17, 2015