User:KellsieBasso309

An accident involving a truck can be tragic given the size of the vehicles. Its no wonder that a lot of of the accidents involve fatalities. There are elements that impact trucks in methods that do not affect passenger vehicles. A sudden gust of wind against the hundreds of square feet on the side of a tractor trailer can turn the truck into a sailboat. Even if the truck doesnt flip over, just swerving into one other targeted traffic lane can be a disaster.

Jackknifing is an additional hazard restricted to tractor trailer trucks. When a truck jackknifes, where the trailer goes in a various direction from the tractor, the driver has no control. The cause of the jackknife itself could be beyond the control of the driver, even 1 with years of expertise. A sudden patch of black ice or an oil spill on the road can turn the truck into an unintended weapon.

Truck drivers are paid to bring goods from point A to point B. The sooner the driver can get back to point A to pick up a lot more cargo, the far more he will earn. Put one other way, the quicker he goes and the longer he drives with no stopping means extra money for him and his family members.

The Numbers Tell the Story

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Site visitors Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted the Sizeable Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS). The study covered 120,000 significant truck crashes from April 2001 to December 2003, and then narrowed the study by a representative sample: every single crash involved at least 1 big truck and resulted in a fatality or injury. In the chart below you will see driving too fast for circumstances and fatigue among the factors contributing to accidents.

Fully half of the study involved collisions among huge trucks and passenger vehicles, which the study defined as pickup trucks, passenger cars, SUVs and vans.