Getting involved in a car crash is a scary situation. Not only can it be costly to repair your car, but injuries or death can be a reality of many collisions. Being on the receiving end of a crash with a big truck is no different.
Although truck drivers can’t be on the road without obtaining a commercial driver’s license that they’ve earned through proving their skills, they can still cause accidents. Reviewing the rate of accidents involving trucks and how they happen can help you be aware of their existence across the state of Michigan.
Michigan crash stats
According to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, there was a total of 15,539 accidents involving trucks or buses in 2018. Of these thousands of crashes involving truck and buses, 113 caused deaths and 2,662 caused injuries.
In most of these accidents, about 77%, a truck or bus collided with a motor vehicle that was in motion. The most common way the accidents happened was by sideswiping another vehicle. While the most common way fatal and injury-causing incidents happened was through rear-end crashes.
Accident causes
Although most of these accidents didn’t involve hazardous driving, majority of the ones that inflicted pain or death on victims involved large trucks and buses not being able to stop soon enough. Other common causes of truck accidents that happened across the state in 2018 include:
- Failure to yield
- Improper lane use
- Speeding
- Improper reversing
- Improper turning
- Negligent driving
Since any driver can fall victim to a crash with a much larger vehicle, it’s essential to be conscious of the large blind spots that truck drivers have. It is also important to give a truck space when it makes a turn near you. This is because the wide turn warnings attached to many trucks aren’t just accessories, but fair warnings.
If you or a loved one were side-swept or rear-ended by a truck, then a personal injury attorney can guide either of you on a path of justice and healing.