After Years of Decline, Trucking Accidents on the Rise Again

Clore Law · November 20 2014

According to the latest data, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) reports, that although deadly trucking accidents have declined 17 percent over the past 10 years, the trend has come to an end. Nearly 4,000 fatal crashes were recorded in the most-recent annual statistics, which resulted in a 5 percent increase over the prior year. Quick Facts

• There were approximately 317,000 collisions involving large trucks reported to police in the recent yearly counts.
• Most fatal crashes (63 percent), involved a truck and more than one vehicle.
• Almost two-thirds of them occurred on rural roads, not highways.
• An overwhelming majority of collisions, which caused injury or death, happened during the weekdays and were more common during daylight hours.
• Injuries and fatalities were mainly the result of a direct collision between a passenger and transport vehicles.
• In 5 percent of injury-causing collisions and 3 percent of fatal wrecks, however, the chain of events began with the transport vehicle rolling over.

Factors In 55 percent of cases, an error or behavior of the transport vehicle's driver contributed to the crash. Speed was the largest contributing factor across the board, in trucking accidents. Concerning truckers, the second-largest driver error is distraction or inattention. This is especially concerning, because large trucks can easily weigh over 80 tons, which makes them a truly deadly device in the hands of a distracted driver. Routine causes of inattention include phones or radios. Alcohol or impairment, such as illness or sleep-deprivation also often plays a role in big-rig collisions. Although the trucker is generally sober, the driver of the passenger vehicle is much less likely to be. Considering only the fatal crashes, truckers had measurable levels under the legal limit 3.5 percent of the time, and were over 0.08 BAC 2.1 percent of the time. Operators of passenger vehicles, on the other hand, were over the legal limit in 22.8 percent of collisions and had measurable amounts of alcohol in their systems 26.3 percent of the time. The driver of a big-rig is much more likely to be impaired by lack of sleep, due to demanding schedules and deadlines. Driver behavior is, overall, the largest contributing factor in these collisions, rather than mechanical error or forces beyond control. For this reason, everyone on the road needs to be aware of the dangers associated with transport vehicles and take preventative measures. Nearly 4,000 deaths and 73,000 injuries occur annually, which are completely preventable.

Charleston Trucking Accident Attorney

If you have lost a loved one or have been injured in one of the 317,000 needless collisions that occur yearly, though no fault of your own, you may need legal assistance in order to receive a fair settlement. Large transportation firms are known to hire attorneys who will attempt to shift the blame to you, or will try to settle out of court, so they can pay less. Due to the nature of these collisions, you could be left with ongoing medical bills or a total loss of income, which a court may award, but a settlement will not routinely cover. If you'd like to find out more about receiving fair reparations, contact us using our online form, or speak directly to one of our attorneys by calling 1(800)610-2546.