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Each year, thousands of motorists
and big rig drivers are killed or catastrophically injured in accidents involving trucks and tractor trailers. Often, negligent
operation or other unsafe practices of these big vehicle drivers and/or trucking companies are a contributing or the only
causative factor for these accidents. Semi-truck drivers and the companies they work for have a duty to operate their vehicles
in a safe and responsible manner. Unsafe driving, oversized loads and various other treacherous practices put the public and
the truck operators in danger.
Large trucks – trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds – represent only 3% of all registered vehicles on the
road in the United States, yet they account for over 25% of the deaths in multiple vehicle traffic accidents and 98% of those
killed or injured in trucking accidents will not be truck drivers.
Here are some alarming statistics: ·
EVERY
16 MINUTES OF EVERY DAY , one person in the United States will be injured or killed in a truck-related accident; · Over 450,000 large trucks were involved in crashes last year; · Over 1,000,000 people were involved in these crushes; · Over 5,000 people were killed; ·
Over
140,000 people were injured; · One third of the injured suffered catastrophic damage.
While mechanical failures, reckless driving and improper driver training account for some crashes, the overwhelming cause
is driver fatigue. The National Highway Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) reports that
driver fatigue is responsible for 30% to 40% of all large trucks crashes and is the probable cause in over 30% of crashes
that resulted in the truck driver's death. In a recent survey, almost 20% of tuckers admitted to falling asleep at the wheel
at least once in the previous three-month period.
All motorists should be aware of the dangers
associated with sharing our roads with big rigs. Recent studies have concluded that automobile drivers must also accept responsibility
for many tragedies resulting from car-truck accidents.
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