As we all know, when a truck is involved in an accident with a non-commercial vehicle the truck driver is heavily scrutinized for liability. This could be because the vehicle is so large and weighs many tons; or for other less logical reasons.
However, we wanted to know the facts. What exactly does the data say? The results, if you’re a trucker might not surprise you. For everyone else it may be eye opening.
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute recently examined nearly 9,000 car-truck incidents and only a small percentage where caused solely by the truck driver.
According to the report, “cars were the encroaching vehicle in 89% of head-on crashes, 88% of opposite-direction sideswipes, 80% of rear-end crashes, and 72% of same-direction sideswipes“.
Clearly the numbers speak for themselves, we only hope the general public takes notice and that the tarnished reputation of professional truck drivers begins to turn around.