Trucking Accidents in Atlanta and Elsewhere Show Increase

About 73 percent of the people who were killed in trucking accidents in Atlanta and elsewhere were the occupants of the other involved vehicles in 2014. That according to new statistics released by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The battle between a large, commercial truck and one of our passenger vehicles isn’t a very fair one. Commercial trucks come with so much more power behind their size and their weight. Our vehicles don’t really stand a chance against these powerhouses and it’s the occupants of these small passenger vehicles that suffer the most. It’s not very often that an occupant of a large truck experiences the true dangers of these collisions.

According to the recently released statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were over 3,900 people who lost their lives in semi accidents and accidents with other large commercial trucks across the nation in 2014.

Our Atlanta trucking accident attorneys understand that there were another 111,000 individuals who were injured in these crashes. The number of trucking accidents injuries increased 17 percent over the previous year. The number is only expected to climb in the future.

In the state of Georgia, there were almost 1,700 vehicles involved in fatal accidents in 2014. Of these vehicles, close to 140 of them were large trucks. These large trucks accounted for about 8 percent of all of the vehicles that were involved in fatal accidents during the entire year.

Trucks drivers may not have the best of reputations behind the wheel, but they’re not all bad. Drivers of large trucks in fatal accidents were less likely to have a previous license suspension or revocation than passenger car drivers. But over 16 percent of all large truck drivers that were involved in fatal accidents in 2014 had at least one previous speeding conviction.

The NHTSA also reports that 2 percent of large truck drivers who were involved in fatal accidents had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

There are ways that you can work to avoid one of these accidents. Review the following safety tips to help to improve your roadway safety, especially around large trucks.

Safe Driving Tips

• Keep distractions out of the driver’s seat.
• Be cautious around trucks.
• Never drive in a truck’s blind spot. If you cannot see the driver then they cannot see you.
• Never cut off a large truck.
• Do not tailgate large trucks.
• Always wear a seat belt. Buckling up may be one of your best defenses against death in a traffic accident with a large, commercial truck.
• Try to stay away from trucks when they’re making turns. Trucks take wide turns.

Need help with a serious truck accident? Please contact us.

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