SOME OF THE LESSER KNOWN REASONS TRACTOR-TRAILER CRASHES OCCUR

While it would be easy to blame big rig crashes on a trucker’s careless, aggressive or distracted driving, the large majority of 18-wheeler operators adhere to safety standards. They do so because their livelihoods depend on it.

Instead, they’re those other factors that you don’t hear about that contribute to the more than 475,000 big rig crashes annually. Those wrecks kill at least 5,000 and injure another 140,000 each year.

As for one factors that seems to impact the rate of tractor-trailer crashes, statistics show that poor decision making by passenger car operators ranks high. In fact, humor errors, such as driving in a trucker’s blind spot, are to blame for 70 percent of all catastrophic tractor-trailer crashes.

Among that same 70 percent, at least 29 percent of all tractor-trailer collisions involve head-on accidents. Crash investigations often show that it was the motorist who became distracted or fatigued and crossed the roadway’s center line prior to the collision. In other cases, a motorist attempts to pass a trucker only to not allow enough time to do so.

Another near 30 percent of truck crashes involve motorists rear-ending an 18-wheeler or causing the trucker to run into them. Operating a big rig requires them to have a significant amount of time to stop their truck and motorists often neglect to give them the space they need. Likewise, vehicle operators attempt to stop quickly, not realizing that they could get crushed beneath the tractor-trailer.

Other factors that seem to impact whether a truck crash will occur include what day of the week it is. Thursdays and Fridays, the final two days of the weekly hauling schedule, tend to be the most error-ridden and deadly. And, the time frame between 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., the busiest time frame of the day on the roadway, happens to be the most dangerous.

Interestingly, interstates are not the most dangerous places for truck crashes, but instead main roadways are. In fact, 53 percent of all tractor-trailer-related fatalities occur in major roads as compared to only 30 percent on interstates.

If you’ve been involved in a permanently disabling crash with a tractor-trailer, then you may benefit from discussing your case with a Bowling Green, Kentucky, truck crash attorney. In doing so, he or she may be able to help you recover both lost and future wages as well medical costs.

Source: American Trucker, “The lesser-known contributors in truck accidents,” Landon Biehl, Aug. 2, 2017