What are the statistics on truck accidents and injuries?

On Behalf of Holmes & Wiseley, P.C.

Commercial trucks regularly travel across the roads in Michigan. This puts many people at risk of serious accidents and injuries. These are some statistics on truck accidents and injuries stemming from them.

How many truck accidents occur?

Annually, more than 4,000 truck accidents occur that result in fatalities. Over a year from 2019 to 2020, there was a 4% decrease in such serious truck crashes. However, going back a decade, this also marked a 33% increase. Most of the truck accidents that occurred over this time period involved both commercial and non-commercial trucks.

Truck accidents that resulted in fatalities made up 9% of all fatal vehicle crashes.

Where and when are fatal truck accidents most occurring?

While it seems fair to assume that more fatal truck accidents would have occurred in urban areas, this isn’t the case. In 2020, rural areas saw more truck crashes that resulted in deaths. Urban areas had a 45% rate of deaths stemming from truck accidents while rural areas experienced 55% of the fatalities occurring from truck crashes.

Most of the fatal truck accidents that happened in 2020 took place during the daytime. Only 37% happened at night. The other 63% took place during the day. The vast majority, 95% also happened in areas that were not considered a work zone for truckers.

June, August, September and October accounted for most of the truck accidents that resulted in deaths. October 2020 saw the largest number of fatal truck accidents at 483 crashes.

What causes fatal truck accidents?

Certain factors were found to be the biggest causes of fatal truck accidents. An inability to stop the truck, truckers failing to yield and disregarding traffic signs and signals, recklessness, negligence and speeding all contributed to accidents resulting in deaths.

If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a truck accident, it’s urgent to hold the at-fault party liable.

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