A loaded commercial truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, as compared to 3,000 or so for a passenger vehicle; add to this the fact that a loaded tractor-trailer takes from 20-40 percent farther than a passenger vehicle (even more on wet or slippery roads or when the truck’s brakes are not properly maintained), and you can see the potential for a tragedy. Some statistics regarding our nation’s trucking industry include the following

• The economy of the United States depends heavily on the trucking industry—nearly 70 percent of all freight transported annually travels by truck.
• Nearly 90 percent of large commercial truck accidents are either caused, or made worse by human error, whether by the truck driver or the other driver.
• Truck driver fatigue is responsible for at least a third of all commercial truck accidents (although some statistics place that number as high as 87 percent).
• In 2010, there were 1.1 fatal crashes per 100 million truck-miles.
• In 2010, 3,413 people died as a result of a large truck accident.
• While 14 percent of those who died in a large truck accident were occupants of the large truck, 72 percent of those who died were occupants of a passenger vehicle and the remaining 14 percent of those who died were pedestrians, motorcyclists or bicyclists.
• While large commercial trucks account for 4 percent of the registered vehicles on the highways, they disproportionately account for 9 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.
• About 61 percent of fatalities occurred on major roads other than interstates.
• Head-on collisions account for 45 percent of a truck/passenger vehicle accidents.
• Nine percent of crashes involving a large commercial truck occur while the truck is negotiating a curve.
• In seven percent of truck/passenger vehicle fatal crashes, either the truck or the passenger vehicle was stopped in a traffic lane.