Personal Injury Blog

Federal Data Shows Drop in Fatal Truck Accidents Between 2007 and 2009

December 4th, 2011
Fatal Truck Accidents

Fatal Truck Accidents

According to data by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration cited by the American Trucking Associations, there was a drop in fatal truck accidents between 2007 and 2009.  The drop was a substantial 31 % in fatal truck accidents, and 30% in injurious truck accidents.

The data suggests that large fatal truck accident rates have dropped from 1.1 accidents per 100 million miles in 2008 to 1.0 accidents per 100,000,000 miles in 2009.  Most fatal accidents involving large commercial trucks, or just above 31% occurred between 6 AM and noon.  Just 17.2% of fatal truck accidents occurred between midnight and 6 AM.

The most common driver-related contributing factors in fatal truck accidents were speeding, accounting for 7.3% of all fatal truck accidents, failure to maintain lane, which accounted for 6.5% of all fatal truck accidents and inattentiveness, which accounted for 5.7% of all fatal truck accidents.  Drowsy driving accidents accounted for 1.4% of all fatal truck accidents.

Since the year 2000, the fatal commercial truck accident rate has dropped from 2.2 accidents per 100 million miles to 1 crash per 100,000,000 miles.  In about 40% of the cases, the accident was the result of the truck striking the car.

According to the American Trucking Associations, the reason for this decline has been a combination of efforts by trucking companies, truck drivers and law enforcement officers.  Law enforcement officers have been cracking down harder on speeding.  The group says that trucking companies also been investing more in safety techniques to reduce the possibility of accidents involving their fleets.  More trucking companies now use technology and slower driving to reduce the risk of accidents.

Many of the trucking accidents that San Diego trucking accident lawyers come across are the result of reckless driving practices, like speeding or failure to maintain lane.  The fact that speeding is the biggest driver-related factor in truck accidents is definitely a cause of concern.  That’s because any accident that involves a speeding tractor-trailer can have horrific consequences.  These accidents ultimately result either in multiple instantaneous injuries or catastrophic injuries.  Trucking companies could be doing a better job of requiring their drivers to respect speed limits, and practice safe driving.

Driver distraction contributes to close to 6% of all fatal truck accidents, indicating that distracted driving in the trucking industry is more widespread than we currently fear.  While the federal administration currently has a ban on texting while driving for all commercial truck and bus drivers, trucking companies must establish and implement a zero-tolerance policy for the use of cell phones behind the wheel, except in emergency situations.

 

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