What You Need to Know

• Causes

  The Department of Transportation has compiled a list of events that often lead to trucking accidents:

  • Loss of control of the truck due to some event like a tire blowout
  • Disabling or non-disabling vehicle failure (engine problem or hood flew up)
  • Another motor vehicle encroaching on the truck’s lane
  • Poor road conditions due to poor road maintenance or weather
  • Traveling too fast for road conditions
  • Shifting cargo
  • Lane drifting (either truck or passenger vehicle)
  • Driving off the edge of the road
  • Improper truck maneuvering during events (turns and passing through intersections)
  • Coming upon a stopped vehicle
  • Finding objects on the highway
  • Driver fatigue
• Responsibilities

  Every state has laws pertaining to large trucks with trailers, most of which stress the factor of driver fatigue. A truck driver is only allowed to drive a certain amount of miles or hours before being required to take a break.

  Unfortunately, some trucking companies have only one thing in mind— delivering or picking up the cargo they need to make their sale. They may disregard trucking laws with their profit in mind. As a result, The National Transportation Safety Board says as many as 40 percent of all truck accidents can be traced to driver fatigue.

  Another reason for many truck accidents is the large number of unqualified truck drivers that are on the road. Driving a big rig truck requires a specialized license through specialized training. However, a recent report found thousands of fraudulently licensed truck drivers on the roads.

• Consequences

  A small car or SUV is no match for a big rig truck. Compared to passenger cars, which usually weigh less than 10,000 pounds, big rig trucks are intimidating. Some large trucks weigh as much as 80,000 pounds.

  That weight difference means when a truck crashes head-on into a passenger car, SUV or pickup, its much larger weight increases the force of the crash significantly over the force of a crash between two cars.

  If an accident occurs, then serious injuries are often the result. Truck accidents can even be deadly. In a recent year, semi-truck accidents were responsible for 12 percent of the fatal auto accidents. Seventy-six percent of those fatalities were sustained by the victims of the smaller vehicle.