How many truck accidents occurred in 2015? | The Law Offices of Tyler & Peery

On Behalf of | May 12, 2017 | Truck Accidents |

While you may not give truck accidents much thought, data on these collisions is collected annually. According to the most recent statistics of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 2015 witnessed about 415,000 truck collisions. These incidents usually involved a commercial truck which weighed more than 10,000 pounds; typically, either one or more fatalities occurred or one of the people involved required emergency medical attention.

Fatal collisions involving trucks increased 8 percent in 2015. While you may find this increase to be alarming, these incidents do not make up the majority of truck accidents. Most collisions resulted in either injuries or the towing of a vehicle and affected 53,263 and 95,337 trucks respectively. Additionally, the data indicated that trucks pulling more than one trailer usually are not responsible for fatal accidents. While semis with two trailers accounted for 3 percent of fatal collisions, 65 percent were caused by semis with only one trailer.

While you may think that more fatal accidents occur at night because of a driver’s decreased visibility, this is not the case. Nighttime crashes resulting in fatalities made up only 35 percent of these collisions. Additionally, rural roads were the scene of most fatal accidents. Most of these crashes occurred because another vehicle ran into the truck. Rollovers were not responsible for as many accidents as you might initially think; only 4 percent of fatal collisions involved a rollover.

While you may think that many people involved in fatal crashes do not wear seatbelts, only 8 percent of truck drivers were not using their seatbelts when an accident occurred. Additionally, fatigue, distraction and speeding were the most common factors noted in drivers of fatal collisions.