The incidence of accidents involving large trucks has increased 20% in the last decade. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) statistics for 2017, the most recent year available, every indicator shows the upward trend in large truck accidents is continuing unabated.
Large truck accidents resulting in fatalities increased by 10% from 2016 (4,251) to 2017 (4,657).
Large truck accidents resulting in injuries increased by 5% from 2016 (102,000) to 2017 (107,000).
Large truck accidents resulting in property damage only increased by 3% from 2016 (351,000) to 2017 (363,000).
The large truck involvement rate, which is the average of large trucks involved in fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveled, increased by 6% from 2016 (1.48) to 1027 (1.56).
While semi-trucks make up a small percentage of total traffic accidents every year, averaging 3%, the results of a large truck crash can be devastating. This is especially the case when the other vehicle or vehicles in the collision are much smaller passenger cars and light trucks. Due to their greater size and weight, large trucks typically cause much more damage than one would see in an ordinary traffic accident.
And even though large trucks are only responsible for 3% of injury-causing motor vehicle accidents, trucking accidents typically cause much greater harm than ordinary Philadelphia car accidents due to the larger size and heavier weight of most trucks. Large truck accidents also differ from typical traffic accidents in the severity of the injuries they can inflict on the occupants of smaller passenger cars and light trucks. Those who survive a large truck crash often suffer life-changing injuries that can take years to recover from, if at all.