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Semi-truck accidents cause thousands of deaths every year

On Behalf of | Jun 1, 2016 | Truck Accidents

Most drivers probably attempt to operate their vehicles with a bit more care when they are near a semi-truck on the highways of Georgia. The danger presented by these vehicles should be clear – they are huge, weigh thousands of pounds more than the average passenger vehicle and oftentimes are transporting cargo that is hazardous. But, sadly, truck accidents involving semi-trucks are sometimes seemingly inevitable.

In fact, some statistics state that in a recent year, over 3,400 people died as a result of being involved in an accident with a large truck. Of those accidents, an estimated 75 percent involved semi-trucks. And, among those killed in these accidents, the vast majority of the fatalities were the occupants of the other vehicle, an estimated 72 percent.

The seeming regularity of these types of truck accidents will probably be somewhat understandable to our readers when the sheer amount of miles traveled by large trucks is considered. Some statistics point to millions and millions of miles traveled by these trucks, over 286 million miles in 2010 alone. That figure has likely only gotten higher in recent years.

It is the cause of these accidents that really needs to be determined in the aftermath. In some cases, a drunk truck driver is at fault. In others, it may be something as simple as an inattentive truck driver. And, in many cases, there may have been something wrong with the semi-truck itself; for example, overloading is quite common. Once the cause of the truck accident is determined, those who have suffered injuries or who have lost a loved one may be able to file a lawsuit to attempt to recover compensation.

Source: truckdrivingjobs.com, “Truck Driving Accidents – Causes, Fatalities, Statistics and Costs,” Accessed May 21, 2016

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