Why are trucking accidents so common and so dangerous? One reason is the sheer number of trucks on the road in the United States. Even with planes and other modern advancements, an incredible number of products are simply moved on the highway every day — and every night. These 80,000-pound vehicles have to share the roads with a lot of 3,000-pound cars, and accidents between the two are both inevitable and dangerous.
To better understand how this looks for your daily commute, consider the following:
- The United States is home to more than 500,000 trucking companies. While about 20% are large corporations, the vast majority are small businesses with no more than half a dozen trucks.
- There are about 2 million 18-wheelers in the country, with many of them on the road at any given time.
- On top of that, you have about 13.5 million smaller trucks, which, despite not being as large as semis, are still much larger than passenger vehicles.
- There are roughly 3.5 million American truck drivers.
You can see that the danger is not just the sheer number of trucks, but the number of drivers, as well. There are a lot of variables in play. With 3.5 million people operating these trucks, what are the odds that some of them will make mistakes, violate company policies or even break the law? It happens, and people get injured as a result.
If you get hurt in an accident with a semitruck in Louisiana, make sure you are well aware of the options you have to seek compensation.