Causes of Large Truck Accidents

The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration carried out a “Large Truck Crash Causation Study” from examination of 967 large truck accidents, which occurred between April 2001 and December 2003. Injuries or fatalities were sustained in all of the sample accidents. In 23 percent of the large truck accidents and crashes, there was at least one fatality. Incapacitating injuries were suffered in 28 percent of the accidents and non-incapacitating injuries were sustained in 38 percent of the collisions. One-quarter of these accidents were single-vehicle, involving only the large truck or an inanimate object. One-half of the crashes involved the large truck and one other vehicle and the remaining 25 percent involved two or more vehicles. The large truck configuration that was involved in the vast majority of the collisions, 62.2 percent, was a tractor pulling a semi-trailer. The three major crash types, which involved large trucks were, rear-end collisions, ran off the road/lane and sideswipe while traveling in the same direction. Other crash types are rollovers, turning across or into path of another vehicle, colliding with intersecting vehicles in straight paths, side swipes while traveling in the opposite direction, and head-on collisions. The reasons for driver error contributing to large truck accidents, listed in descending order, are: prescription drug use; traveling too fast for the conditions; unfamiliarity with the road; over-the-counter drug use; inadequate vigilance; fatigue; distractions outside of the truck; inadequate evasive maneuvers; aggressive driving; unfamiliarity with the large truck; following too closely and making assumptions about other driver’s actions. Other driver factors leading to large truck accidents are cargo shifting, load securement, and unrealistic expectations of drivers by motor carriers. The largest single factor for equipment malfunction leading to a truck accident was brake failure or maladjustment with nearly one-third of the accidents occurring for this reason. Environmental factors that influence the probability of a large truck accident are weather, traffic flow interruption, and roadway conditions. To learn more about nursing home abuse lawsuits, premises liability lawsuits, car accident and auto accident lawsuits, wrongful death lawsuits, and medical malpractice lawsuits, it is important to speak with Birmingham, Alabama personal injury attorney Lanny Vines.