Accidents happen, but when an accident involves a large truck, the damage can be catastrophic. In 2017, nearly 5,000 Americans were killed in accidents involving large trucks, and tens of thousands more were injured. Truck driver errors, such as speeding and distracted driving, were factors in almost a third of the crashes.
Large trucks are an integral part of our economy. We depend on them to transport food, fuel and other vital goods and commodities to our communities. But truck safety is an ongoing challenge.
Truck wrecks claimed the lives of 4,761 people in 2017 and injured tens of thousands of others. The vast majority of trucks involved in fatal accidents were tractor-trailers, and more than 70 percent of those who were killed were the occupants of cars and other vehicles.
Did you know?
Although large trucks account for only 4 percent of the 268 million vehicles on the road, they are involved in about 1 in 10 highway deaths.
Sources: 2018 Pocket Guide to Large Truck and Bus Statistics and Insurance institute for Highway Safety
The average car stands little chance against the typical big rig.
A fully loaded semi can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, or 40 tons. The typical car, meanwhile, weighs in at about 3,000 to 4,000 pounds. And because trucks can’t slow down or stop as quickly as cars, trucks tend to hit cars at higher speeds and with greater impact, leaving the car occupants with devastating and often fatal injuries.
Also, because cars sit so much lower to the ground than trucks, cars can easily slide under a semi in a crash. These underride accidents are often catastrophic even at slower speeds. Car occupants end up crushed, trapped or decapitated. Those who survive sometimes have severe head or neck injuries.
Common Causes
Driver error is a contributing factor in most fatal crashes involving large trucks.
Slightly more than half of passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal truck crashes were cited for driver-related factors in 2017. And truck driver errors were a factor in nearly one-third of those crashes, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The agency oversees safety practices for truck drivers and other commercial motor carriers.
- Speeding
- Distraction or inattention
- Failure to yield right of way
- Impairment (fatigue, alcohol, illness, etc.)
- Careless driving
Approximately 5 percent of large trucks involved in fatal crashes had vehicle-related problems, such as brake problems or tire issues.
Truck Driver Fatigue
Fatigue is a serious problem in the trucking industry. Truckers work long hours and often don’t get the sleep they need. Many only take short naps when they actually need extended sleep to restore their bodies and minds to optimum functioning levels.
One federal study that monitored 80 truck drivers over 7,500 hours of truck driving found that they averaged only 4.8 hours of sleep per day, and more than half experienced at least one 6-minute interval of drowsiness while at the wheel.
Drowsy driving can have deadly consequences. Being awake for at least 18 hours is comparable to having a blood alcohol content of 0.05 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And a comprehensive study of 120,000 crashes involving large trucks found that 13 percent of the truck drivers were fatigued at the time of their accident.
Hours of Service
To combat truck driver fatigue and keep tired drivers off the roadways, the federal government requires certain commercial drivers to comply with what are known as hours-of-service regulations. The regulations place limits on when and for how long a person may drive.
The regulations limit truckers to driving 11 hours during a 14-hour period, and they must take a 30-minute rest break after driving for eight hours. Once truckers have driven 11 hours, they’re required to be off-duty for 10 hours.
The rules also prohibit truckers from being on duty any more than 60 hours during a seven-day period or more than 70 hours during an eight-day period. Once truckers hit that limit, they must take off at least 34 hours before resuming driving and starting a workweek anew.
In theory, the rules are supposed to guarantee that drivers are getting enough rest to stay alert on the road, thereby making the roads safer. But some in the trucking industry say the regulations are actually making things worse.
Some truckers say their bodies aren’t always attuned to the forced downtime and it can be a struggle to find a safe and accessible parking spot to even take a 30-minute break. In that case, the break provides little or no rest and just extends the length of their workday.
Even worse, some truckers end up speeding on the roadways to make up for lost time.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is also a serious problem. A 2009 study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that distractions played a role in 71 percent of commercial vehicle crashes and 46 percent of near-crashes.
Distractions are anything that takes a driver’s attention away from driving or draws the driver’s eyes away from the road in front of them. Drivers who send text messages while driving are 23 times more likely to be involved in a “critical safety event,” according to the 2009 distracted driving study.
Other dangerous driver distractions include: interacting with dispatching device, writing something down, using a calculator, looking at a map, dialing a cell phone, reading, personal grooming, reaching for an object and eating.
A tragic example happened in March 2019 when an Indiana semi driver took his eyes off the road to retrieve a sandwich he had dropped. When his eyes returned to the road, the traffic in front of him slowed, but he was unable to stop in time and slammed into the back of another semi.
His passenger, who was riding in the truck’s sleeper berth, was killed in the fiery crash. A passenger in the sleeper berth of the truck he hit sustained injuries to his neck and back.
Distractions outside of a truck’s cab, such as glancing at a passing billboard or building, can also lead to accidents. One study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration attributed approximately 11,000 truck crashes to distractions outside of the truck.
Work Zone Dangers
Nearly 30 percent of all crashes in work zones involve large trucks, and the number of people killed in these types of accidents is increasing. Over the past five years, more than 1,000 people were killed and 18,000 were injured in work zone accidents involving large trucks.
Work zones are particularly perilous because lanes may be closed, narrowed, or shifted, and traffic may slow or stop suddenly. Other disruptions, including flaggers and work vehicles entering or exiting the traffic flow, can also add to the confusion.
Most work zone crashes are rear-end collisions. Drivers may not realize that trucks need more room to stop than cars do. A large truck that’s traveling 55 mph needs nearly 50 percent greater stopping distance than a car. A truck traveling at a higher speed will need even more room to stop.
