Trucking Accidents on the Rise Across the Nation
Roughly 400,000 collisions occur between passenger vehicles and semi trucks annually, resulting in well over 100,000 injuries and around 5,000 deaths.
June 25, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The trucking industry is essentially the backbone of the American economy. Roughly 70 percent of all the nation's commercial goods are transported in tractor-trailers each year. As more trucks hit the road, however, the rate at which they are involved in accidents rises accordingly. Roughly 400,000 collisions occur between passenger vehicles and semi trucks annually, resulting in well over 100,000 injuries and around 5,000 deaths.
Semi-truck accidents can be life-changing or life-ending for the victims involved. Catastrophic injuries are all-too-common, and fatalities often result, due in no small part to the huge size disparity between commercial trucks (weighing an average of 60,000 to 80,000 pounds) and passenger vehicles (usually weighing between 3,000 and 5,000 pounds).
Due to a number of factors, North Carolina has one of the highest rates of tractor-trailer crashes in the country - in fact, a recent nationwide survey ranked it sixth nationwide. Some of the reasons for the increased incidence of accidents in the state include:
- Prime location between Southern shipping ports and Northern commercial centers
- An ever-increasing volume of traffic
- Easy access to several interstate highways including I-77, I-85, I-40 and I-26
- A number of major thoroughfares high in the mountains (where dense fog can emerge suddenly, there are steep grades, rock slides can occur and ice can quickly accumulate on road surfaces)
- The fact that there are more than 100,000 miles of publicly traversed roadways in the state
As Accident Rates Increase, More Injuries and Deaths Follow
When drivers don't comply with regulations, accidents occur. The blanket term "safety or maintenance violation" covers a wide range of negligent, careless or reckless behavior on the part of truck drivers, truck owners (if a different party) and commercial trucking companies.
Driver-specific activities include:
- Forging driver logs to indicate that mandatory rest periods were taken
- Becoming extremely fatigued, thus causing delayed reaction time or falling asleep behind the wheel
- Distracted driving such as eating, talking on a cell phone, texting or using the radio to communicate with other drivers instead of focusing on the road
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs
- Operating the tractor-trailer while taking prescription or OTC medications like painkillers or cold medicines that cause drowsiness
- Inexperience
- Inadequate training
- Trying to comply with unrealistic compensation programs that actually encourage driving too fast for conditions and not taking enough rest breaks
- Overloading the trailer, thus making it harder to control and top heavy, which could encourage it to tip
- Improperly loading or securing cargo inside an enclosed trailer, which could result in sudden weight shifts that cause the driver to lose control
- Failing to adequately secure cargo on a flatbed trailer, which could result in unexpected debris on the roadway (this can lead to single-car or chain-reaction accidents that can be nearly as catastrophic as semi versus passenger vehicle accidents)
- Driving too fast for weather conditions like heavy rains, high winds and snow
- Driving too fast for road conditions, particularly on steep grades, sharp curves, blind intersections and areas known for ice accumulation or falling rocks
- Failing to drive defensively (watching out for other drivers, cutting them off, running them off the road or forcing them to take evasive maneuvers that could by themselves result in an injury-causing accident)
Company and Owner-specific causes:
- Not adhering to mandated maintenance schedules
- Forging maintenance logs to pass inspections on otherwise unfit rigs
- Failure to service vital safety components like brakes, warning lights, steering mechanisms and trailer hook-ups ("coupling devices")
- Letting trucks leave for delivery runs with bald, bulging, under-inflated or over-inflated tires that can "blowout" at highway speeds, possibly causing the driver to lose control
- Not properly training drivers or preparing them for road and weather conditions, aggressive drivers and handling mechanical system failures
- Insufficient engine upkeep, which may lead to anything from a loss of power (affecting everything from steering and braking to windows and communication) to fire hazards
- Failure to check vital engine fluids like oil and transmission, brake and power steering fluid
While any one of these reckless behaviors can easily cause an accident, many of them coexist, escalating and complicating an already hazardous situation. Often, neither the trucker nor the trucking company is singularly responsible for a collision - the negligent actions of both, when compounded, result in sometimes irreparable harm to unlucky motorists who happen to be in the vicinity (some would say "in the wrong place at the wrong time"). News reports from around the country are filled with tales of tractor-trailers overturning, jackknifing, crushing smaller vehicles and running over pedestrians, bicyclists or motorcyclists.
If you are involved in a collision with a tractor-trailer, it is highly likely that you will be seriously injured or that you will tragically lose a loved one. Should you fall victim to the careless or negligent actions of a trucker or trucking company, seek the advice of a skilled personal injury attorney with experience handling these difficult cases.
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