Factors in Large Truck Crashes

Due to the size of tractor-trailers and semi trucks, it is easy to see why accidents involving these vehicles are usually catastrophic.  Every year tens of thousands of people are injured in large truck crashes across the country.  If you have been injured in an accident involving a large truck, you may be wondering what exactly caused the collision.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a study that examined the reasons behind large truck accidents in the United States.  Researchers analyzed 963 crashes, which was a national sample of the 120,000 truck accidents that occurred from April 2001 to December 2003.  The sample included 1,123 large trucks and 959 motor vehicles that were not trucks.  Every one of the accidents studied had at least one injury or fatality.

What was interesting about the findings of the study was that some factors of a large truck crash occurred days, weeks, months or even years before the incident.  Factors such as driver training, experience of the driver, truck design and manufacture, highway condition, traffic signaling and weather conditions frequently contributed to truck crashes.  Researchers did notate certain events that happened right before an accident, which included tire blowout, snow or traffic decisions.

Other variables associated with large truck accidents had to do with events such as running out of travel lane or loss of control and factors including brake problems, traffic flow interruption, prescription drug use, driving too fast for conditions and so on.  Driver fatigue was also linked to many of the truck accidents studied.

An injury caused by a large truck accident can be traumatic.  If you have been injured in a semi truck crash, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.  Contact Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C. at (877) 724-7800 or (713) 224-7800 for legal advice regarding your large truck case.

The article, Causes of Large Truck Accidents – the Large Truck Crash Causation Study, has more information on the study.