Ohio Tractor Trailer Accident Statistics Show Thousands Hurt or Killed in Big Rig Accidents Each Year
A review of Ohio Tractor Trailer Accident Statistics Show The Number of Accidents Involving Tractor Trailers Continues to be a Major Factor in Ohio Accident Injuries and Deaths and Work as a Warning for Passenger Car Drivers to Remain Alert and Utilize Defensive Driving Tactics While Traveling.
Thousands of tractor trailers and big rigs travel across Ohio’s highways and byways each day carrying products across the state to their destinations. As the speed limit in Ohio is set be increased, some expect the number of truck accidents to increase, while others feel that the increase will not have a detrimental effect on public safety. Either way, current statistics show that thousands of people are injured and hundreds more are killed each year in tractor trailer related accidents.
The United States Department of Transportation has recently estimated that half a million accidents involving trucks occur every year across the country, yet only 16 percent of these accidents are the fault of the truck driver. Included in those statistics are estimates that 5,000 people have died in those truck accidents, and that the 98 percent of the time the accident is the fault of the other vehicle, not the truck driver. (https://www.truckinfo.net/trucking/stats.htm#Accident%20Statistics)
Let’s bring these numbers closer to home. Statistics provided by the Ohio Department of Public Safety show that last year alone, tractor trailers traveling across Ohio were involved in 18,603 accidents and that 10,755 of those accidents were caused by tractor trailer driver errors. In those accidents, 182 people died and 5,266 people were injured. 23 of the persons killed were the driving the big rigs, and 1,336 of the total number of those injured were truck drivers. (State report based on Unit Statistics of Heavy Truck Crashes https://ext.dps.state.oh.us/crashstatistics/CrashReports.aspx)
Ohio Tractor Trailer Accident Statistics
While the number of tractor trailer accidents in Ohio is lower than the number of passenger vehicle accidents occurring in the state, the numbers show that much more needs to be done to improve public safety against tractor trailer accident injuries and fatalities. In an effort to understand the underlying causes of these types of accidents, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has collected the data from thousands of accidents involving tractor trailers and produced a list of the major causes of these accidents. Of the top 10 coded factors concerning the accidents, the first was brake problems, and the second was an interruption in traffic flow. (https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/research-technology/analysis/fmcsa-rra-07-017.htm) Surprisingly, driver fatigue was last on the list, though unfortunately, prescription drug use ranked third.
About The Cochran Firm – Ohio
The Cochran Firm – Ohio is an experienced full service, personal injury law firm with offices in Cincinnati and Dayton and handles Ohio Tractor Trailer Accident and personal injury cases throughout all of Ohio. The attorneys at The Cochran Firm Ohio successfully represent their clients across a broad range of claims stemming from car / auto accidents, personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, premises liability, and product liability lawsuits. If you’ve been injured call Ohio’s experienced full service law firm “The Cochran Firm – Ohio” today at 513-381-HURT.