Truck accidents tend to be very serious in nature due to the size and weight of these commercial vehicles. Even if truck drivers don’t cause most of the accidents they’re involved in, the vessels they operate still have the potential to cause significant harm to anything in their path.
Continue reading to learn more about the number of truck accidents that occur each year.
The Data
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the following is true regarding large truck accidents:
Fatalities
In 2018, a total of 4,136 people lost their lives as a result of truck accidents. Of these deaths, 16% were truck occupants, 67% were passenger vehicle occupants, and 15% were pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists. Take a peek at the graph below for a visual representation of the large truck fatality rates from 1975-2018.
Truck Accidents Overall
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), there are approximately 500,000 trucking accidents each year in the United States. Of that number, only about 5,000 accidents result in fatalities. That means only around 1% of truck accidents result in deaths. In addition, about 350,000 of these accidents result in injuries, which is about 23% of all truck accidents that occur.
Peripheral Data
Regarding truck accidents, the following is true, according to the DOT:
- Single-vehicle accidents (involving a bicyclist, pedestrian, nonmotorized vehicle, etc.) tend to make up the following:
- 20% of all fatal crashes
- 15% of all injury crashes
- 23% of all property damage only crashes
- 63% of fatal large truck crashes tend to involve more than one vehicle
- Most fatal accidents involving large trucks occur in rural areas and on Interstate highways
- 57% tend to occur in rural areas
- 27% tend to occur on Interstate highways
- 13% fell into both categories by happening on rural Interstates
We’re Here to Help
If you’ve been involved in a truck accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Our attorneys here at The Ahearne Law Firm, PLLC are highly skilled in this area of the law and have helped many other people just like you. Let us see if we can help you, too. Don’t hesitate to contact our office with your case right away.
Call the New York lawyers at The Ahearne Law Firm, PLLC today at (845) 763-4100 to speak with an accomplished attorney about your case.
