National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data shows that the number of fatal crashes occurring in the U.S. increased by more than 50% since 2009. At least 9% of these deadly crashes involved large tractor-trailers. National Safety Council (NSC) data shows that there are other alarming trends related to who dies in these crashes and when and where these accidents occur.
Data from 2018 shows that 4,862 lost their lives in fatal truck-involved crashes that year. At least 71.2%, or 3,525, of the decedents, were other motorists. Only 17.9%, or 885 of them, were other truckers. The remaining 10.9%, or 541 people, who died in those crashes, were non-occupants.
The months with the highest overall truck accident fatalities in 2018 were October with 432, August with 423 and May with 392. April saw 325 deaths in 2018. It was the month with the lowest number of truck-involved fatalities that year.
NSC data also shows that an overwhelming majority of these fatal truck accidents didn’t happen in work zones. Only 4.6 % of them occurred there. Those same statistics reveal that most of these crashes, or 74.25%, occurred along non-interstate roadways. That data also shows that 57.09% of these truck-involved fatal accidents happened in rural areas versus 42.91% in urban ones.
That same data also shows that at least 63.79% of the fatal truck accidents in 2018 happened in the daytime.
There was a significant uptick in fatal truck accidents during the past few years. While the data doesn’t detail why there was an increase, it likely has something to do with, in part, distractions from cellphones and truckers speeding to get a job done within service hours. None of these factors are reason enough for a tractor-trailer driver to operate their vehicle in an unsafe way, though.
A truck accident attorney in Sarasota might be able to help you recover compensation for your severe injuries, or Florida loved one’s untimely loss if a trucker’s negligence resulted in you getting hurt or losing someone close to you here in Sarasota.
