Truck drivers in Georgia may be interested to know about the results of a report issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. According to the report, there was an increase in the number of trucks that were involved in fatal crashes in 2016. The number rose by 3 percent from 2015. For 73 percent of the large trucks involved in fatal crashes, the main contributing event that occurred before the crash was a person, another vehicle, an animal or an item in the truck’s lane.
The report, which was released in May 2018, provides a detail and current analysis of crashes. The FMCSA postponed the creation of the report for a year after the publication of the preliminary numbers to make sure that only the most accurate information would be provided.
According to the report, interstate highways and rural areas are the most common sites for fatalities caused by large truck crashes. An estimated 27 percent took place on interstate highways, and 61 percent occurred in rural areas.
In 2015, the quantity of large trucks that were involved in crashes in which there were fatalities was 4,074. That number rose in 2016 to 4,213. The report states that the 1.46 rate of large truck involvement, or the number of large trucks that were involved in fatal crashes per ever 100 million miles traveled by large trucks, remained the same.
Large truck accidents in 2016 resulted in 4,317 deaths, an increase from the 4,094 fatalities reported in 2015. The 2016 fatalities include 722 that were occupants of large trucks, an increase from the 665 recorded in 2015.
A personal injury attorney may pursue financial damages on behalf of clients who are injured in trucking accidents. The negligent parties may be sued for causing permanent disabilities, serious head injuries or death.