Truck crashes are serious, because the weight and size of those vehicles make it much more likely that people will get hurt. It’s important for those drivers to be particularly cautious when they’re on the roads and to have the appropriate training to understand how to drive their vehicles safely.
On Dec. 21, the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was released. The traffic fatality data for 2019 showed that there were 36,096 traffic fatalities that year, which was down 2% overall from 2018. While overall traffic fatalities were down, not much had changed for large truck occupants.
Were numbers down at all for large trucks?
No. In fact, there was an increase in the total number of traffic deaths involving large trucks. The increase was small at 0.2%, but that still means that more people were killed compared to the year before. Additionally, large truck occupant traffic fatalities in multi-vehicle crashes were up by 13%, and nonoccupant deaths were up by 2.9%.
There were some positives in the report, though. For example, drunk driving deaths were down around 28% among large truck-involved collisions. Unfortunately, there was a 10% increase in distraction-related collisions with fatalities.
Perhaps more important is how traffic collisions are affecting the Southeastern U.S. Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina saw an increase in traffic fatalities at a rate of approximately 1%. Comparatively, the Northeast region saw a large decrease in deaths at around 9%.
All this data shows is that there is still work to do to minimize the risk of large truck-involved collisions. These crashes have the potential to cause lasting damage, serious injuries and death. If you or a loved one has been involved in a crash caused by a large truck, it’s important to seek the compensation you need for expenses and damages.