Florida residents might be interested to learn about some statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concerning large truck accidents. According to NHTSA, the definition of a large truck is a truck that weighs at least 10,000 pounds. Data that was collected in 2008 determined that 380,000 of these vehicles were involved in some type of traffic crash that year.
The trucking accidents that occurred in 2008 resulted in 4,229 fatalities and 90,000 injuries. Although large trucks were only found to account for 4 percent of vehicles that were on the road, 8 percent of all of the vehicles that were involved in fatal accidents were large trucks. For every nine fatal crashes in 2008, one of them involved a large truck.
According to the NHTSA data, 2 percent of the large truck accidents in 2008 involved a truck driver who was legally intoxicated. Half of the two-vehicle accidents involving a fatality took place while the two vehicles were traveling straight. More fatal truck accidents were found to occur in rural locations than metropolitan areas, and more of these wrecks took place during daylight hours. Almost 85 percent of the fatalities in large truck accidents were not occupants of the large truck.
Even if a large truck driver was not intoxicated when they were involved in a fatal crash, the truck driver may still be found liable for the wreck due to another type of negligence. An attorney may be able to help truck accident victims or family members of a deceased truck accident victim to gather evidence proving that the truck driver caused the accident. Evidence of distracted driving, speeding or another type of reckless driving may be used to build a strong personal injury claim against the truck driver and trucking company.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , “Large Trucks“, October 21, 2014
