Truck Accident Statistics - Important Information

American roadways are clogged with vehicles of all sorts, making driving a dangerous proposition under any circumstance. However, with approximately 8 million heavy trucks, including around three-and-a-half million tractor trailer trucks, sharing the roadways with smaller passenger vehicles, the risk of catastrophic accidents increases dramatically. According to the statistics published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, through 2001, there was an average of 200,000 truck accidents in the United States each year. However, in 2002, this number more than doubled to approximately 435,000. Of these crashes, more than 4,500 resulted in the death of one or more people.

Truck Driver Negligence

According to Ralph Craft, Ph.D., a senior transportation specialist with the U.S. Department of Transportation, some statistics regarding large truck accidents can be highly misleading. For example, in 1996, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that "In 71 percent of fatal 2-vehicle large truck/other-vehicle crashes, police reported one or more driver factors for the other vehicle, but none for the truck driver." This does not necessarily mean, however, that the operators of passenger vehicles solely caused these collisions with trucks. In many cases, factors contributing to the crash are not accounted for in the first report, only being discovered after investigation. Of the "critical events" that could be attributed to the operators of trucks in collisions with passenger vehicles, Craft presented the following statistical breakdown:

• Truck driver driving outside of his or her lane or off the road - 32%
• Truck driver losing control of his or her truck due to speeding or other factor - 29%
• Truck driver colliding with another vehicle in the lane - 23%
• Collision while truck is turning or crossing an intersection - 10%
• Other events - 6%

If you have been injured in a collision with a large truck and you were not at fault, you should contact an Alaska personal injury attorney who has experience in handling trucking accident cases immediately.