Truck accident numbers to know in South Carolina

In 2012, there were 333,000 large trucks involved in accidents on U.S. roadways. By definition, a large truck is a vehicle with a gross weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more. These crashes resulted in 3,921 people losing their lives and another 104,000 suffering injuries. The numbers of fatalities rose by 4 percent from 2011 while the number of injuries increased by 18 percent.

Of those who died in large truck accidents, 73 percent of those were occupants of other vehicles involved in the crash. Only 18 percent were occupants of the large trucks involved in accidents involving fatalities. Statistics revealed that 24 percent of those injured in large truck accidents were occupants of the large trucks. This was compared to 73 percent of injuries that occurred to occupants of other vehicles.

These percentages were changed very little from 2011 to 2012. Overall, the number of truck occupants injured in an accident dropped by 2 percent while the number of injuries suffered by occupants of other vehicles increased by 1 percent. Occupants of large trucks suffered a higher percentage of fatalities in single-vehicle crashes while they suffered a higher percentage of injuries in multi-vehicle crashes.

Those who suffer injuries in truck accidents may not be able to return to work or regain full use of an injured body part. Some or all costs related to treating the injury or injuries such as medical care, long-term medical care or lost wages may be recouped in a personal injury lawsuit. A personal injury attorney may be able to help an injured party win compensation from the driver who caused the crash. It may also be possible to win compensation from the driver’s employer if the crash occurred while the driver was working.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation , “Large Trucks“, November 20, 2014