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Dangers of Large Trucks on Highways

Sharing the road with a large truck can be difficult in a place as tightly developed as New Jersey. The risks to both the driver of the truck and any vehicles around them are serious. Recent studies released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imply that passenger vehicles may bear some of the risk as well as some of the responsibility.

For the 2012 year, the NHTSA collected data about truck accidents in that year and looked for information about what causes such collisions. A wide variety of behaviors have been cited that might lead to a truck accident, but the actions of other drivers appear to be one major cause of large vehicle crashes. Naturally commercial drivers make errors or irresponsible decisions, especially after a long and tiring shift of driving has exhausted them. However, a large number of accidents involving trucks may have been caused by other vehicles on the road.

Just as the trucker may be in greater danger because of the behavior of the driver of a passenger car, the car’s occupants may be in more danger because of the truck’s size. Statistics reveal that fatal multi-vehicle accidents involving trucks kill four times more people in the other vehicle. Of the approximately 104,000 people who were injured in such accidents in 2012, 73 percent were in another vehicle.

Injuries caused by a truck wreck are the responsibility of the person who caused the accident, and negligent drivers may have to pay compensation to the people they have hurt. The advice of an attorney who has experience in personal injury litigation can be valuable to such a victim.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Large Trucks”, accessed on Jan. 31, 2015