Truck Trailer Accidents, Often Fatal for Auto Passengers

With more and more large trucks/tractor trailers on the road every year, your chances of being involved in an accident with one, is much more likely to happen to you. There are approximately 500,000 accidents each year in the U.S., involving passenger cars and the "big rigs". One out of eight fatalities is due to colliding with a truck. Death and serious injuries usually are restricted to the passengers of the smaller vehicles, while the driver of the truck is seldom seriously injured.

Fatal crash rates for trucks are 2.6 deaths per one hundred million miles traveled. This is 50% greater than the rate for other vehicles. Furthermore, trucks and tractor trailors are more often involved in multiple accidents. because 80% of truck accidents involve more than one other vehicle.

Government law requires operators to have a commercial driver's license and have periodic drug and alcolhol tests. The effectiveness of these tests are questioned because of the continuing amount of accidents.

Fatigue plays a large part in many truck accidents. Many admit falling asleep while driving, making their trucks lethal weapons for those around them. Drivers quite often stay on the road longer than they should for financial reasons, and push themselves to drive longer distances than they can safely drive.

Downtime is now required by the US Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstration. This was done in 2003, and the compliance date was January 4, 2004. These actions were taken to help lower the accident rate. New guidelines now define how long drivers can legally drive each day. Regulations now permit drivers to be on the road for eleven hours after having ten consecutive hours of off duty rest, and are not allowed to drive beyond the 14th hour after coming on duty, following ten hours off duty. They may not drive after being on duty for sixty jhours in a seven consecutive day period, or seventy hours in an eight consecutive day period. The on duty cycle can be restarted if there is at least a thirty-four hour off-duty period.

Short haul drivers that return routinely to their place of dispatch after their shift and then are released, sometimes have an increased on duty period of time of sixteen hours after a week of regular shifts.The exception of the 16 hour period, takes the business needs into consideration without jeopardizing safety. Without this flexability it is estimated that at least 48,000 new inexperienced drivers would have have to be hired, therefore increasing the accident rate.

It is estimated that the new rules may prevent 75 fatalities and perhaps 1,300 crashes yearly. In the past, drivers repeatedly violated the old regulations with hours of service. Vigorous enforcement needs to be put into place, otherwise, compliance may also be poor for the new regulations.