Delaware Accident Lawyers Report 2012 Truck Accident Injury Statistics

The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released the statistics on vehicle accidents involving large trucks through the year 2012. The NHTSA considers a large truck to have a gross weight rating more than 10,000 pounds.

The NHTSA reported over 300,000 large trucks were involved in accidents in 2012. These accidents injured 104,000 people which is a rise of 18% over 2011 which had less than 90,000 injuries. Almost three quarters of the injuries in 2012 were occupants of vehicles other than the large truck involved in the accident.

Trucking accident fatalities increased by four percent from 2011 to 2012. The NHTSA reported almost 4,000 people were killed in trucking accidents during this time period. Of these fatalities, 73% were occupants of other vehicles involved in crashes with large trucks. This is a five percent increase over the previous year.

The NHTSA also reported on when the crashes involving large trucks were occurring. The data showed the majority of the large truck accidents occurred on weekdays (Monday through Friday) and during daytime (6:00am to 5:59pm) hours.

The NHSTA report examined the point of initial impact in multiple vehicle accidents involving a large truck. The statistics from 2012 showed head on collisions of a large truck and another vehicle accounted for the highest number of crashes at 31%. The next highest rate of impact is the front of the other vehicles colliding with the rear of a large truck totaling 19% of crashes. The data also noted large trucks were more likely to be involved in fatal multiple vehicle accidents than single vehicle fatalities when compared with passenger cars by close to 30% more.

If you were injured in an accident involving a large truck you need a legal team trained to deal with this special type of vehicle accident. The laws offices of Edelstein Martin & Nelson, LLP are experienced Delaware trucking accident lawyers committed to obtaining compensation for truck accident victims. Call us today at (302)-295-5050 or toll free at (800) 300-0909to schedule a free consultation or contact us by submitting an online inquiry.