Among the 1,688 vehicles involved in fatal crashes in Georgia during that same year, 149 of them were large trucks or about 9 percent. Research reveals that 81 percent of fatal accidents involving semi-trucks include multiple vehicles, whereas 58 percent of fatal crashes involving no semi-trucks are multiple-vehicle accidents.
Researchers say that, with regard to fatal collisions in 2012 involving a semi-truck, at least one of the involved vehicles was attempting to negotiate a curve in 12 percent of them. In 9 percent of these wrecks, both vehicles were making a turn, and neither vehicle was attempting a turn in almost half of them. According to statistics, almost one-third of all fatal crashes involving a semi-truck in 2012 were head-on collisions.
What these statistics do not reveal is the immense damage that truck accidents can inflict on the lives of the people involved in them. This damage is not only physical or emotional but financial too. People who are left to cope with vehicular repairs, hospital bills, medical expenses, and lost wages in the aftermath of a truck accident may realize the economic toll associated with these incidents, and that in large part is why accident victims often retain a personal injury lawyer following the wreck.
The investigations that accompany these large, destructive crashes are typically lengthy and exhaustive. The information and evidence they yield may be of particular importance to accident victims who wish to seek restitution via civil action.
Source: NHTSA, “Traffic Safety Facts: Large Trucks“, October 08, 2014
