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

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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)

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