A report issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showed that there was an 8 percent increase in the number of large trucks involved in fatal collisions between 2014 and 2015. This information might be important to Virginia motorists, particularly in deciding how to drive around these vehicles and what other safety precautions to take.
According to the report, there were 4,050 heavy trucks involved in 3,598 fatal accidents in 2015. In total, 415,000 accidents involving large trucks were reported to police, with 20 percent of these causing injuries and 1 percent resulting in one or more deaths. The fatal accidents involving large trucks were further broken down to show that 20 percent of the incidents were single vehicle collisions that also included a pedestrian, bicyclist or a non-motorized vehicle, while 64 percent of the incidents were involved two vehicles. Most of the incidents took place on rural roads, but about 25 percent of the crashes happened on interstate highways.
Of the nearly 4,000 truck drivers who were in fatal accidents that year, most were between the ages of 26 and 65. There was a 2 percent increase in the number of deaths to occupants of the cab, most of whom were the drivers.
Collisions involving big rigs can cause catastrophic injuries to occupants of other vehicles, as the trucks dwarf the weight and size of smaller cars. If it can be determined by an attorney representing an injured victim that the accident was caused by the negligence of either the truck driver or the trucking company, a lawsuit could be filed and if successful result in a monetary award to compensate the victim for the losses that were sustained.