November 11, 2022
The US relies on the trucking industry to keep the supply chain running. However, getting into an accident with a semi-truck is usually much worse than a regular motor vehicle accident. In most cases, the passenger vehicle receives the worst of the damage.
According to Policy Advice, trucking accidents will become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030. See below for more truck accident facts. Knowing the facts might encourage you to drive with extra caution when sharing the road with large commercial vehicles.
Fatalities mostly occur in passenger vehicles
In fatal commercial truck accidents, 97 percent of the deaths occurred in the passenger vehicle. Truck drivers are much more likely to survive an accident because of their vehicle’s elevated position and size. Passenger vehicles have a distinct safety disadvantage.
Some truck categories increased their fatality rate
Motor vehicle accidents have decreased overall in recent years. Unfortunately, larger freight trucks have not followed this trend. The death rate for tractor-trailers exceeding 26,000 pounds increased by 5.8 percent in the previous few years.
Injuries increased over 10 years
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says that injury crashes reached a low number of 60,000 in 2009. Unfortunately, by 2019 the number of injury crashes increased to 127,000. Truck accident injuries tend to be more severe and lead to catastrophic injuries such as paralysis, internal bleeding and traumatic head injuries.
Suffering an injury from a large commercial vehicle might alter your life forever. Usually, there are several liable parties in a truck accident. You might be able to pursue economic, non-economic and punitive damages, depending on the circumstances that caused the collision.
