Scary Facts about Trucking Accidents

 If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an accident involving a commercial truck, contact Attorney Robert L. Vogel immediately to protect your rights. rlvogel@robertvogellaw.com
865-357-4315.

Commercial trucks are big, trucking is big business, and it should come as no surprise to anyone that trucking accidents are very common. Whether you’re eating fresh fruit in the middle of winter or buying affordably priced goods originally made in China, there’s a decent chance that a commercial truck was involved in transporting most of what you buy. Consider the following numbers:

• The commercial trucking industry collects $650 billion in annual revenue. When compared to the gross domestic product of the entire country, trucking accounts for 5% of it.
• There are over 750,000 tractor-trailer drivers and almost 50,000 light truck and delivery drivers employed in the country.
• Trucking accounts for almost 84% of the total revenue taken in by the commercial transportation industry. The remaining 16% is divided between trains, planes, ships, and pipelines.
• In a single day, commercial trucks transport nearly $390 million worth of goods. That equals over $4,400 worth of goods delivered per second.
• There are over three million 18-wheeler trucks operating in the country. They travel over 93 billion highway miles every year, using over 54 million truck tires and 52 billion gallons of diesel fuel to do it.

Trucking Accidents
A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh 80,000 pounds or more. That means that the 18-wheeler that passes you on the highway is 40 tons of metal, fuel, tires, and cargo traveling at 65 miles an hour or more. That’s a very dangerous situation, and just like any other vehicle, commercial trucks are involved in thousands of accidents every year. Consider these numbers from the Department of Transportation:

• There are about 500,000 commercial trucking accidents each year.
• About 5,000 crashes involving commercial trucks result in fatalities.
• For every eight fatal traffic accidents, one of them involves a commercial truck.
• In 98% of fatal commercial truck accidents, the people who die are the ones in the passenger vehicles involved, not the truck.
• The average truck accident results in nearly $60,000 in damages.

Truck Accident Causes
In the majority of truck accidents, the common causal factor is driver error. Adverse weather conditions, poorly designed roadways, failed traffic signals, as well as mechanical failures are also common causes, but driver error is far and away the most common.
According to one study from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, 88% of trucking accidents are caused by a driver’s mistake or omission. Of those accidents caused by driver error, the FMCSA found that:

• 4% of the truck drivers involved were currently taking either over-the-counter or prescription medications.
• 23% of truck drivers involved in crashes were later found to be traveling too fast for road conditions.
• 18% of truck drivers involved in crashes were tired or fatigued.

Accident Advice
Trucking accidents are often complicated events with many contributing factors and potential causes. If you’re ever involved in such an accident it can be very difficult to objectively evaluate the situation, especially if you have been injured or your vehicle has been damaged. Talking to an experienced Truck Accident attorney is your best option even if you don’t think you or the truck driver did anything wrong. If you have suffered any kind of damages as a result of a crash involving a commercial truck, you should talk to a lawyer in your area as soon as possible.

 If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an accident involving a commercial truck, contact Attorney Robert L. Vogel immediately to protect your rights. rlvogel@robertvogellaw.com
865-357-4315.