West Virginia motorists may be surprised to learn that number of annual truck accidents is on an upward trend. Public perception often rests of the aggressive behavior of truck drivers, who many assume drive recklessly and cause these accidents. However, there are a variety of factors that result in truck accidents, including human error on the parts of both truck drivers and car drivers.
Every year, there is an estimated 475,000 accidents involving large trucks. As a result, there are also 5,000 fatalities and 140,000 injuries. Interestingly, 70 percent of these accidents seem to be caused by the other vehicles involved in the collision. The contributing factors involve speeding, distracted driving and human error such as driving in the truck’s blind spot. In the fatal incidents, about 29 percent were a result of head-on collisions and another 29 percent were the result of a vehicle rear-ending the big truck.
In incidents where the fault lay with the big truck, the data shows that most incidents occurred on major roads on Thursdays during the hours of heaviest traffic between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. This suggests that fatigued driving is a major factor that can result in a truck crash. Fatigue might result in some drivers not checking equipment as accurately as possible and making wrong decisions during driving. The location also suggests that some drivers are speeding on major roads and that reckless driving might be another factor due to the times when these incidents occurred.
If a motorist is injured in a truck accident, they might be eligible to receive compensation for damages. A lawyer with experience in this area might provide advice about how to fill out the claim and how to gather supporting evidence.