Truck Accident Lawyers

Serving Fredericksburg, Petersburg, and Richmond, Virginia

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that between the years 1990 and 2001 there were approximately 52,278 fatal crashes involving large trucks. In the year 2000, the FMCSA reported that there were 140,000 large truck accident injuries in this country. That translates to 68 truck accident injuries per 100 million truck vehicle miles traveled. A large truck was defined as a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds.

Most fatal crashes of trucks involve trucks that are pulling one trailer. A recent survey showed that 64% of fatal truck accidents had one trailer. 32 % of fatal truck accidents involved single-unit trucks, that are trucks without  trailers,  and  fewer  than 4% of the fatal truck accidents involved multi-trailer vehicles. Statistics also have shown that the front of the truck is the initial impact  area  in  nearly  62%  of all fatal truck accidents

and 28% of non fatal truck accidents. The rear of the truck is the location of initial impact in about 16% of both fatal and non fatal collisions.

Recent statistics have demonstrated that major arterial roadways were the scenes of the greatest proportion of fatal truck accidents. However, rural arterial highways had the highest frequencies of truck accidents for all categories of trucks.