Road, Truck, Car and Motorcycle Accidents
We are competent truck/tractor trailer accident and resulting injury attorneys. Did you know that every 16 minutes a person is killed or injured in a truck accident? Did you know that large truck accidents continue to increase? Even with these frightening scenarios and statistics, powerful trucking industry lobbyists continue to demand that safety rules and regulations be weakened for greater profits.
When truck collisions occur, the companies involved usually send their representatives to the scene of the accident. These agents work to deal with everything found at the accident scene in a way that may limit or mitigate the company’s liability.
Many times trucking, trucking and leasing companies dispute which insurance company will provide compensation to the victim. The representatives of these companies know that the ideal time to confront the victim of an accident is immediately after the accident. After the misfortune of a truck accident, the traumatized victim will need to make important decisions that will have a great impact on the future. Grief-stricken, anxious and injured people are pressured by the tactics of trucking companies and insurers. Quite often victims and their families struggle with the effects of these accidents alone.
By working with experienced truck accident attorneys, victims can have control and involvement in ensuring that their rights and interests are protected.
Another video of all kinds of truck crashes: Truck Crash Compilation Trucks Crashes – video Dailymotion
As evidenced by the number of manufacturers outsourcing the transportation of their products, demand for trucking is expected to increase. In 2022, estimated industry revenues were USD 277.1 billion ($277B). Transportation: Trucks in the U.S. 2022 – Industry Insights & Data Analysis | Statista
As evidenced by the number of manufacturers outsourcing the transportation of their products, demand for trucking is expected to increase. In 2022, estimated industry revenues were $277.1 billion ($277B) USD.Transportation: Trucks in the U.S. 2022 – Industry Insights & Data Analysis | Statista
TRUCK-RELATED ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES: THE STATISTICS
The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) released its most recent statistics for commercial truck crashes and truck-related fatalities in 2020. . FARS Encyclopedia: States – Crashes and All Victims (dot.gov)
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reported in May 2023 that 4014 people died in large truck crashes in 2020 in the USA. Large trucks (iihs.org)
In the United States, a total of 4714 people were killed in large truck crashes in 2021, an increase of 17% compared to 2020. Sixteen percent of these fatalities were truck occupants, 68 percent were occupants of cars and other passenger vehicles, and 15 percent were pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists. The number of people killed in large truck crashes was 50% higher in 2021 than in 2009, when it was the lowest since fatal crash data collection began in 1975. The number of truck occupants killed was 68% higher than in 2009.
The majority of fatalities in large truck crashes are occupants of passenger vehicles. The main problem is the vulnerability of people traveling in smaller vehicles. Trucks often weigh 20 to 30 times more than passenger cars and are taller and have greater ground clearance, which can cause smaller vehicles to pass under trucks in crashes.
Truck braking ability can be a factor in truck crashes.
Loaded tractor-trailers require 20 to 40 percent more distance than cars to stop, and the discrepancy is greater on wet, slippery roads or with poorly maintained brakes. Truck driver fatigue is also a known crash risk. Federal hours-of-service regulations allow drivers of large trucks to drive up to 11 hours at a time. Surveys indicate that many drivers violate the rules and work longer than allowed.
Colorado truck accident rates.
The state of Colorado had 74 fatal crashes involving large trucks in 2020, as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). In addition, 393 fatal crashes involved light trucks, such as pickup trucks. Commercial truck crashes accounted for 8.4 percent of all fatal crashes in Colorado in 2020.
There were 21 fatal large truck crashes involving vehicle rollovers in Colorado in 2020.
Deaths/Fatalities: STATISTICS
The following is a breakdown of the type of large truck involved in each fatal accident:
- 38 trailer-tractors (tractor with trailer)
- 15 medium-heavy pickups (less than 10,000 lbs.)
- 11 single-unit trucks(10,001 to 19,500 lbs.)
- 5 single-unit trucks (19,501 to 26,000 lbs.)
- 5 single-unit trucks (over 26,000 lbs.)
Source: FARS Encyclopedia: Vehicles – All Vehicles (dot.gov)
Wyoming truck accident rates.
The state of Wyoming presenciὀ 33 fatal crashes involving large trucks, and 86 fatal crashes involving “light” or light trucks, such as vans (e.g., pickups) in 2020, as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Truck crashes accounted for 69.5 percent of all fatal crashes in Wyoming in 2020.
Deaths/Fatalities in Wyoming
The following is a breakdown of the type of truck involved in each fatal accident:
- 33 large trucks
- 25 tractor-trailer (truck with trailer)
- 88 medium-heavy (less than 10,000 lbs.)
- 2 single-unit trucks (10,001 to 19,500 lbs.)
- 1 single-unit trucks (19,501 to 26,000 lbs.)
- 1 single-unit trucks (over 26,000 lbs.)
Source: FARS Encyclopedia: Vehicles – All Vehicles (dot.gov)
Articles:
Fatal Accidents Reported by the Media
2 dead, 1 injured after truck runs off I-80 in Wyoming, hitting drivers
2 Dead, 1 Injured After Semi Goes Off I-80 in Wyoming, Hits Drivers
Sgt. Jeremy Beck says 41-year-old Houston, Texas, resident Edgar F. Echeverria, 41, was westbound when he lost control of his truck, overturned it and entered the median, striking tow truck driver Wamsutter, 45. resident Kirby Lugg and the driver of the car, who were out of their vehicles.
Read More: 2 Dead, 1 Injured After Semi Goes Off I-80 in Wyo., Hits Drivers
5 hospitalized after multi-vehicle crash on I-80 in Wyoming
Five people were hospitalized after an accident involving five trucks and a passenger vehicle in Wyoming near the Utah border.
Uinta County Fire and Ambulance officials said the five people were transported Monday night after the crash occurred on Interstate 80 at milepost 5.
Read more: 5 hospitalized after multi-vehicle crash on I-80 in Wyoming near Utah border | KUTV
Semi crashes into barrier in construction zone on Interstate 70.
Rodriguez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, had used a false social security number to obtain his Texas commercial driver’s license six years earlier. He found work hauling loads of stone and driving other trucks in North Texas without anyone taking into account his history of immigration arrests and traffic violations.
In the cab of an 18-wheeler rented from TXI Transportation Co, Ricardo Rodriguez was driving on the same highway with a load of 33 tons of sand.
Rodriguez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, had used a false social security number to obtain his Texas commercial driver’s license six years earlier. He found work hauling loads of stone and driving other trucks in North Texas without anyone taking into account his history of immigration arrests and traffic violations.
PHOTOS: SMILEY N. POOL/DMN
A Wise County Sheriff’s deputy charges Jagr Royse at the scene of an accident between a truck and a car that claimed the lives of everyone in the car except the 14-month-old toddler.
South of Paradise, on a flat stretch of road, the mother and the truck driver met head-on.
Rodriguez crossed the lane split and went head-on into Hughes at more than 60 miles per hour, a civil jury later ruled.
The Yukon SUV was struck by the truck on the driver’s side and began to spin. A pickup truck following the truck struck the Yukon, injuring the occupants of the pickup truck and nearly wrecking the SUV.
Hughes’ 14-year-old son, Shiloh, and his 71-year-old mother, Joyce Watkins, died almost immediately. Hughes and her 17-year-old daughter, Afton Hughes Royse, who was expecting twins, died later in a Fort Worth hospital.
Amid the Christmas gifts and holiday treats, the only sign of life in the wrecked SUV were the screams of Afton’s 14-month-old son, Jagr Royse, and the frantic cries of a woman on Shiloh’s cell phone line.
That’s 40 tons of trouble. That’s what Sergeant Robert Wilson concluded as he inspected the heavy dump truck before him.
Gail Parrish, 58, died after being struck by a truck on Highway 380 in October 2005 (photo). This accident is just one example of several fatal mishaps in Wise. In this county, 56 people have died in truck accidents between 2000 and 2005.
A few minutes earlier, the 18-wheeler had passed Highway 380 loaded with gravel bound for a construction site in Denton, with a diabetic at the wheel. Now, the truck was lined up with other stopped trailers for a surprise roadside inspection by inspectors from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
One of the tires was missing a lug bolt and three other nuts were loose. One tire was low and another had a split tread. There was also a cracked axle rim, six improperly adjusted brakes, one taillight and one brake light that did not work. Thirty minutes and 21 safety violations later, inspectors ordered truck driver Orville Burris off the track until repairs were made.
John Pellizzari, highway patrolman, gives directions to a truck driver to verify that the truck is in compliance. Construction trucks have become a priority for authorities. Too often these vehicles cause serious accidents.
Rock haulers are among the lowest paid and hardest working drivers in the commercial trucking industry. Their trucks are among the most dangerous on the road, federal safety inspectors say.
“If the motoring public knew what you drive on the road, they’d be really scared,” said State Trooper John Pellizzari, Wise County DPS Commercial Vehicle Control officer, who is infamous among state and federal truck inspectors for deadly accidents that have involved construction haulers.
Motorcycle Accidents
Incidentally, 138 fatal crashes involving motorcycles (motorcycle accidents) in Colorado 2020 accounted for 15 percent of all fatal crashes in Colorado in 2020
Motorcycle Accidents in Wyoming
Incidentally, there were 17 fatal crashes involving motorcycles (motorcycle crashes) in Wyoming 2020 accounted for 10 percent of all fatal crashes in Wyoming in 2020.