Fatal truck accidents involving trucks that weigh at least 10,000 pounds account for about 13 percent of all traffic accident fatalities that occur each year in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). While any number of different factors can contribute to fatal truck accidents, more than 87 percent of these are caused by some type of human error, making negligence the leading cause of deadly truck accidents.
Fatal Truck Accident Statistics
The following fatal truck accident statistics, which have been primarily compiled and published by the NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), underscore the prevalence of deadly truck accidents in the U.S., as well as some of the common factors that contribute to them:
- Approximately 1 in every 8 truck accidents results in at least 1 death.
- When fatal truck accidents involve passenger vehicles, the occupants of the passenger vehicles sustain the fatal injuries about 98 percent of the time. This can generally be attributed to the gross difference in weight between commercial trucks and passenger vehicles, as well as the fact that the impact between these vehicles occurs at the head level of passenger vehicle occupants (while, in contrast, the impact occurs at the bumper level of large trucks).
- Rollovers, jackknifes and underride truck accidents are among the deadliest types of truck accidents that can occur.
When Negligence Causes Fatal Truck Accidents
Some of the most common forms of negligence that contribute to fatal truck accidents include:
- Driver intoxication, either on the part of the truck driver or another motorist on the road
- Driver fatigue, which most commonly occurs among truckers who are often under pressure to deliver cargo within strict time frames
- Driver distraction, which can affect truckers as commonly as it does other motorists on the roads
- Driver inexperience, which can occur when truckers don’t have their commercial driver’s licenses and/or have not been properly trained by the companies that employ them
- Failure to comply with Colorado trucking laws and/or federal trucking regulations, which tends to occur when truckers are trying to save time or increase their earnings at the expense of other drivers’ safety
- Failure to comply with traffic laws, which is another factor that may be the fault of truckers as often as it is the fault of other motorists
- Vehicle equipment failure, which may be associated with vehicle equipment manufacturers’ negligence or driver negligence, depending on the specifics of the situation.
The Denver Truck Accident Attorneys at McLaughlin Law Firm
When fatal truck accidents have taken the life of your loved one, it’s time to contact the Denver truck accident lawyers at McLaughlin Law Firm Our attorneys are experienced at proving when any type of negligence has caused a fatal truck accident, and they are skilled at building the strongest possible wrongful death cases for grieving families.
While our Denver truck accident attorneys know that no sum of money can ever make up for the untimely loss of a loved one, they also know that helping these families obtain the compensation they deserve can be critical to helping families obtain some type of closure, as well as the financial support they may need to properly put their loved ones to rest.
When families trust our lawyers to handle their wrongful death claims, they can rely on us to:
- Provide them with the highest quality of legal services at every stage of their case
- Work tirelessly to help them achieve the best possible outcomes to their case in the most efficient manner possible.
Contact Us Today – We Are Ready to Fight for You
The Denver trucking accident lawyers at McLaughlin Law Firm are ready to fight for you. We urge you to learn more about your rights and get a professional evaluation of your case by meeting with us for a free, no obligations initial consult.
To set up this meeting today, call us at 720-420-9800 or email us using the form on this page.