Truckers face a great danger of being seriously hurt or killed on the job in this country. However, the risk is even greater here. Ranking within the top ten states for the most truck crash fatalities are Illinois (ranking sixth in the country) and Indiana (ranking ninth) according to a new research report released by the Truck Safety Coalition (“TSC”). Using data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), TSC found that Illinois suffered 180 fatalities in the last reporting year (2021) with Indiana experiencing 167 deaths attributed to commercial truck crashes in that time period.
Truck drivers on the job in our part of the country are known to be driving in areas where there is heavier commercial truck traffic than in other states. Indiana and Illinois are transportation hubs where goods and freight are moved and distributed throughout the country via our “Crossroads of America.”
Accordingly, truckers here face a greater risk of work injuries that come with driving a big rig, semi-truck, tractor-trailer, or 18-wheeler, where they face known risks of death or serious injury in a truck crash. Trucking ranks as the most dangerous job in Illinois and second (surpassed only by construction) in Indiana. Read, What Is The Most Dangerous Job in Indiana and Illinois?
It is important that all commercial motor vehicle drivers as well as those sharing the roads with them understand the great dangers facing commercial truck traffic today. It is mandatory that members of the trucking industry and their insurance carriers understand that legal duties of safety and care exist to protect against these fatal truck accidents – and that this research report confirms that more needs to be done to protect against deadly truck accidents.
TSC and Members of Congress in a Joint “Call for Change” to Reduce Fatal Truck Crashes
This week, the TSC was joined by several members of Congress in a public call for “immediate action to advance critical truck safety reforms” in the face of the revelations of the new TSC report.
In what is being called “…one of the worst years for truck crash deaths in modern history,” their joint release points to NHTSA data finding that large truck fatalities “surged, passing 5,700 deaths,” and that “[s]ince 2009, truck crash deaths have increased by 71%.”
While some of these deaths involve those outside of the commercial vehicle, these tragedies also involve the worker in the big rig, semi-truck, or tractor-trailer as well as occupants of the rig.
No death in a commercial truck accident preventable by compliance with known safety measures and legal duties of care should happen. The continued trend in fatal truck crashes is agonizingly unacceptable and must be halted.
Accordingly, the TSC is asking for the following actions to be undertaken to reduce fatal truck crashes on our roadways:
- DOT/NHTSA must expeditiously finalize its Automatic Emergency Braking rule for all classes of CMVs.
- DOT/FMCSA must expeditiously complete its speed limiter rule for CMVs.
- Congress must require DOT/NHTSA to conduct side underride guard impact testing, not doing so fails to comply with Congressional intent in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
- Congress must fully fund DOT to conduct its lifesaving work without unsafe riders that prohibit FMCSA from implementing specific safety provisions for teen truckers in the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Program
- DOT/FMCSA must expeditiously require new motor carriers to pass a knowledge exam proving that they know and can implement Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) required to safely operate a motor carrier business, including those hauling hazardous materials. Currently, DOT allows anyone to operate in interstate commerce who files appropriate paperwork without requiring any evidence they know the rules to keep truck drivers and all roadway users safe.
National Security Council Confirms Fatal Truck Crash Crisis
Independently of the TSC, the National Safety Council (“NSC”), a global leader in safety concerns based in Itasca, Illinois, confirms the grim reality facing truck drivers and those sharing the roads with them today and the danger of a fatal truck crash.
According to NSC findings, there has been a 49% jump in fatal truck accidents in the past decade, and a disturbing increase of 18% from 2020 to 2021.
In 2021, 5,700 large trucks were involved in a fatal crash, an 18% increase from 2020 and a 49% increase in the last 10 years. The involvement rate per 100 million large-truck miles traveled is up 7% from 2020, and up 22% in the last 10 years. Large trucks are defined as any medium or heavy truck, not including buses and motor homes, with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds. Both commercial and non-commercial vehicles are included.
Large trucks accounted for:
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- 9% of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes
- 5% of all registered vehicles
- 10% of total vehicle miles traveled.
Truck Drivers on the Roads of Illinois and Indiana and the Need to Protect Against Truck Crashes
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, truck drivers are employed in one of the most dangerous lines of work in the country.
The risks facing anyone behind the wheel of a commercial motor vehicle or “large truck” as it transports goods or freight in shipping or distribution channels involve all sorts of hazards, such as:
- Fatigue from long hauls or monotonous driving
- Poor health conditions resulting from sedentary work (heart attack, risk of stroke, etc.)
- Pressure to drive from safety to impairment (causing speeding, drug use to combat sleepiness, etc.)
- Inexperience and lack of training (particularly teenage truckers)
- Failed inspection, repair, or maintenance of the rig or its components
- Improper packing of contents or loading of cargo (causing shifting weights during drive).
For more, read:
- Drowsy Driving, HOS, Stopped Truck Crashes: Will 2022 Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act Be Passed?
- The Office of the Inspector General is Auditing FMCSA over Concerns of Fraudulent Trucker Medical Certificates
- Speeding and Fatal Truck Crashes: Will Speed Limiters Be Legally Mandatory in 2021?
- Teen Truckers in Indiana and Illinois: Congress Writes FMCSA and DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg
- Truck Driver Fatalities on the Rise: Fatigue, Speed, and the Trucking Industry
- Overweight or Overloaded Semi Truck Accidents: Growing Danger of Fatal Crash.
After a truck driver is catastrophically injured or killed on the job in a truck accident, the worker victim and their loved ones may have a complex pathway towards justice, since there may be a number of hurdles offered by employers and others who may have legal responsibility for the incident.
Employment may be an issue: was the trucker an employee of a trucking company or an independent contractor? Was the actual employer the shipper of the goods, and does that shipper have legal accountability? See, What is the Employer’s General Duty Clause?; Industrial Lone Workers: Accident Dangers When Working Alone; and Course and Scope of Employment: Industrial Accidents in Illinois and Indiana.
Different legal claims may be available to worker truck crash victims depending upon the circumstances of the particular case. Each fatal truck crash must be independently investigated to discover the extent of legal liability and the types of damages available under the law for both the worker and their family members.
The new TSC report confirms the extreme risk of a fatal truck crash in Indiana or Illinois today. Please be careful out there!
