Truck accident statistics show a remarkable trend towards increasing over the last year. Despite the situation with the world remaining locked down, for the most part, trucking companies still had to get their goods to locations to get paid. Unfortunately, this led to fatal crashes quite often. Truck drivers know how dangerous their job is. Even so, truck accidents happen even though the drivers are well aware of the responsibility resting on their shoulders.
In some cases, passenger vehicle drivers are responsible for injuries and fatal crashes. In other cases, the truck drivers might cause traffic fatalities because their employers are overworking them. Insurance companies are extremely interested in tracking accident statistics within the trucking industry. Semi-truck accident statistics reveal an alarming trend over time. IIHS statistics note that in 2019, Ohio had 9.9 deaths for every 100,000 people attributable to traffic crashes. Some of these were truck accidents, while others were motor vehicle accidents. The causes of these accidents vary, from distracted driving to drunk driving.
Important Truck Accident Statistics for 2021
A truck accident can have severe fallout and could lead to many different injuries to those involved. The medical bills for these injuries can add up, especially if the injuries are of a specific nature. For example, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) may have long-lasting effects on a person’s ability to have proper enjoyment of life. Personal injury attorneys typically deal with truck accidents during the course of their cases, but they tend to notice a lot of trends as well. Among the most important statistics that we’ve seen over the course of the last few years include:
7% of Truck Drivers Involved in Crashes Were Below Age 25
4,949 truck drivers were involved in a truck crash in 2019, yet out of these, only 7% were below the age of 25. Seven percent of drivers involved in an accident were also above the age of 66, meaning that most of the drivers who were the victims of truck accidents were between 25 and 66. The average age of truck drivers involved in these accidents was 46.5 years for males and 43.7 years for females. These truck accident statistics come from FMCSA.
Three Out of Four Truck Accidents Involved Licensed Drivers
In fatal traffic accidents regarding trucks, over 75% of the drivers involved had commercial driver licenses (CDLs). The CDL is supposed to be a document that certifies that the driver knows how to operate a truck within a reasonable level of competency. In this case, that doesn’t seem to be true. A more telling statistic is that the remaining crashes were due to drivers with no CDL or a revoked or suspended CDL that were still operating on the roads. This should be a concern to passenger vehicle drivers who have to deal with these drivers daily. Traffic fatalities can easily happen because these drivers are allowed on the roads.
Driver-Related Factors Responsible for 33% of Fatal Crashes
Fatal truck crashes might be due to manufacturer defects. For example, if semi-trucks come from the manufacturer with defects in their construction, the driver can’t help that. If road fatalities are a result of the state of these semi-trucks, the driver or company cannot be held responsible for the traffic accidents that happen as a result. If the road condition is terrible, the driver is similarly not at fault. Truck accident attorneys might have a hard time prosecuting the driver in these cases.
However, driver-related factors do come into play during truck accidents. If the operator of a truck is a drunk driver, they could potentially lose control of the vehicle and lead to the deaths of others. Driver inattention to details such as the state of the brakes or other things that drivers should check may also be seen as negligence. These are driver-related factors that could lead to dire outcomes for truck accident victims.
15% of Truck Drivers, 55% of Other Motorists Killed in Fatal Accidents
There are several truck accident types, but in all of them, 15% of the drivers of those trucks died as a result. Unfortunately, in 55% of these cases, the other driver died as a result of the fatal car accidents. These crashes may be multiple-vehicle crashes or rear-end fatal car accidents. Occasionally, pedestrians are also involved in these fatal car accidents, according to truck accident statistics. The fatality rate of pedestrians involved in semi-truck crashes was 9.1%. Accident deaths from 18-wheeler truck accidents were significant this last year.
Truck Accidents Make Up 6.5% of All Accidents
Truck accidents account for up to 6.5% of all accidents involving motor vehicles in the United States. These auto accidents regularly lead to massive fallout in terms of damages. The accident damage to a truck is liable to be very small in comparison to the damage to the other party involved in the accident. When taken in context, this means that it is less likely that you’ll be injured or killed in a truck accident than in a regular auto accident.
60% of Fatalities Occur With the Front End of a Truck
In truck accidents, the front end is generally the most dangerous. Most of the people killed in truck accidents die because they come into contact with the front end of the vehicle. Victims of truck accidents that end up in these situations have a higher likelihood of getting internal damage which could lead to complications and death. Individuals injured at the accident scene need to seek medical attention as soon as possible in these cases. Truck crashes are not like regular automobile accidents because of the potential for fatalities. The sheer stopping power of a truck could easily kill a pedestrian in the wrong circumstances.
Seeking Accurate Accident Statistics
Statistics dealing with car accidents are a lot easier to source than those dealing with truck crashes. However, they reveal an important snapshot of how truck drivers and their hiring companies see accidents. Most of these companies would never admit driver error as a result of these crashes. Insurance companies try to avoid paying settlements for truck accidents if they can state that the issue was not driver error. Yet as we see in many situations, it is the driver’s fault. In such a case, hiring a professional truck accident lawyer may be a good idea. Contact us today to find out more about how we may be able to help you!