Mr. Ronca is a truck accident attorney with over 20 years of legal experience. He has twice been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.

About Jim | Ask For Advice

RELATED ARTICLES

1. What Causes Large Truck Accidents?
2. Drug and Alcohol Abuse: Why Do Commercial Truck Drivers Take the Risk?
3. Driver Behavior Cause Crashes
4. Danger, Danger, Truck Driving at Night Causes More Truck Accidents
5. Truck overloading accounts for 5 percent of tractor trailer accidents
6. Bad weather is another major cause for truck accidents.
7. Big Rig Accidents Caused by Large Truck Design Defects

Request More Information

First Name:
Last Name:
E-Mail:
Address:
City:
State:
Zipcode:
Phone:
Date of Accident: January February March April May June July August September October November December 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902
City Incident Occurred:
State Incident Occurred:
Roadway or Intersection:
Describe what happened:
Additional Comments:

Truck Driver Behavior Causes Most Truck Crashes

Drivers of large trucks, big rigs, and 18-wheelers involved in truck crashes are 10 times more likely to be the cause of the crash than other factors, such as weather, road conditions, and vehicle performance according to a new study released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in March 2006.

The Large Truck Crash Causation Study was commissioned by FMCSA to review the causes of, and contributing factors to, crashes involving commercial motor vehicles. While previous data focused on specific crashes and/or individual causes of crashes, this study was the first nation-wide examination of all pre-crash factors.

For the purpose of the study, a truck is defined as a vehicle designed, used, or maintained primarily for carrying property, with a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds.

This study makes it clear that more efforts are needed to address driver behavior, as well as making sure trucks and buses are fit for the road. Data now available will allow FMCSA to analyze specific areas of behavior and to develop an agenda on driver safety that should improve commercial motor vehicle driver performance.

FMCSA will conduct analysis to further examine driver factors such as use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, speeding, fatigue, inattention, distractions, work environment, and unfamiliarity with the road.

The study, conducted with the help of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, investigated a national sample of fatal and injury crashes between April 2001 and December 2003 at 24 sites in 17 states. Each crash involved at least one large truck and resulted in at least one fatality or injury. The total sample of 967 crashes included 1,127 large trucks, 959 non-truck motor vehicles, 251 fatalities, and 1,408 injuries.

Action or inaction by the driver of the truck, big rig, or tractor trailer, was the critical reason for 88 percent of the crashes.

The data offers unprecedented detail about the events surrounding truck crashes that are not available anywhere else. The study database eventually will be available to the public to encourage further analysis and increase the knowledge about large truck crash factors.

(Source: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/ltccs/default.asp?page=press)

• Copyright Notice
• Sitemap