Georgia Large Truck Accident Statistics
If you were injured or a loved one was killed or maimed in a wreck involving a large truck, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your losses. At Montlick & Associates, Attorneys At Law, your are more than a statistic. Our Georgia truck accident attorneys treat you as for how you would want to be treated. We treat our clients with respect and empathy, and we treat every case as if it was our own. Our large truck accident attorneys are aggressive, knowledgeable, and skillful lawyers who fight hard to protect their clients’ rights and fight for justice on their behalf. That is our commitment to you and your family.
Truck crashes leave carnage on Georgia’s roads, highways, and interstates. In 2014, there were 1,164 fatalities in total on Georgia’s roads according to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety in Georgia. That amounts to an average of 1.11 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Additionally, in 2014, there were 117,347 motorists and their passengers injured in Georgia car accidents. That figure accounts for all manner of injuries, regardless of severity. In 2015, the number of deaths on Georgia roads totaled 1,430 according to the most recent data available.
Truck accidents were major contributors toward those numbers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the total amount of fatalities caused by truck accidents was 155 in 2014 and 182 in 2015. Nationwide in 2015, there were 32,166 deadly crashes and 3,838 of which involved at least one commercial truck. 6,263,000 non-fatal accidents occurred in 2015 and tractor-trailers, and other commercial vehicles were involved in 476,000 of them.
There are numerous causes indicated for big-rig truck crashes. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published an exhaustive list of all of the known reasons, known as “critical factors” for truck crashes. There are two main contributing causes to truck crashes: driver and vehicle. Driver failure or errors can be attributed to:
- Falling asleep at the wheel,
- Suffering an illness or sudden onset of a life-threatening condition,
- Inattention to the road, such as when daydreaming,
- Internal distraction,
- External distraction,
- Inadequate surveillance,
- Driving too fast for the conditions to immediately respond to a threat,
- Misjudging gap between truck and another vehicle,
- Following too closely,
- Aggressive driving,
- Other illegal maneuver,
- Driving too fast for road configuration such as on a turn,
- Overcompensation, and
- Poor driving skills.
Vehicle and environmental factors round out the list of variables involved in causing large truck crashes. Vehicle factors are:
- Tire and wheel failure,
- Brakes failed,
- Steering failed,
- Cargo shifted,
- Suspension systems failed, and
- Brakes degraded but did not completely fail.
The environment can also contribute to a large truck crash. Environmental factors are:
- Road design, such as curves,
- Slick roads from ice, rain, snow, or debris, and
- wind gusts.
Irrespective of the cause, it is incumbent on the truck driver to maintain control over his or her truck at all times. Commercial drivers should be well-trained and highly skilled at safely operating their trucks. Failing to do so, for any of the reasons listed above, or for some other reason, can ruin and devastate lives if a truck driver causes an accident.
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