18 Wheels and Countless Dangers
18 Wheels and Countless Dangers
September 17, 2006
By Gregg Jones, Holly Becka, Jennifer LaFleur and Steve McGonigle / The Dallas Morning News
Trucking companies often put non-English speakers, felons, addicts in driver's seat, but rarely take blame in fatal crashes.
When accidents occur, trucking companies defend their drivers and often blame the other vehicles – and in many cases the dead occupants – regardless of the evidence. They typically fight any release of information about their drivers and vehicles, and wage protracted legal battles to avoid blame.
More than 5,200 people died in accidents involving large trucks in the U.S. last year – 502 in Texas. The state consistently leads the nation in fatalities, in part because it has more roadway miles and the second highest number of registered trucks.
The state's fatality rate, measured in truck crash deaths per 100,000 people, was 24th nationwide. California, the only state whose volume of truck traffic exceeds Texas, ranked No. 38. Another 10,000 people, on average, are injured in Texas each year in crashes involving big trucks. Responsibility for these accidents is hotly contested; Texas Department of Public Safety DPS investigators typically don't assess blame. Even the department's database refers only to "contributing factors" not "cause."
The most comprehensive national study, released in March by the U.S. Department of Transportation, found that truck drivers were at fault in at least 44 percent of all accidents between cars and big trucks. The American Trucking Associations, which represents the industry's biggest companies, says trucks cause only about 25 percent of fatal accidents involving cars. When trucking companies are to blame, records show, it's because truckers drive too fast, don't pay attention, work too many hours or take to the road in poorly maintained equipment – sometimes with the knowledge and encouragement of their employers.
Many Texas trucking companies and their drivers also flout safety laws with little fear of punishment. Only about 1,000 of the state's more than 64,000 registered trucking companies faced compliance reviews last year. And only about 37 percent of the trucks inspected in Texas last year underwent the most thorough inspection, known as a Level 1. The majority of those were done on Mexican trucks that travel only a few miles north of the border before returning home.
Nationwide, the rates of fatal crashes and fatalities have declined about 24 percent in the last decade, in part because of rising seat-belt usage and safety innovations, such as airbags and anti-lock brakes. But the number of deaths in large-truck accidents is about the same as it was in 1994 because more trucks are on the road, driving more miles than ever.
In Texas, the number of intrastate carriers increased 43 percent in the past five years, with a similar increase in the number of interstate carriers based here. The number of registered large trucks in the U.S. increased 24 percent from 1994 to 2004. Business is so good, in fact, that U.S. trucking companies reported a record year in 2005: They generated $623 billion in revenue while hauling nearly 70 percent of the nation's freight.
To read more of this 3-part article, please click here to download a PDF.
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September 17, 2006
By Gregg Jones, Holly Becka, Jennifer LaFleur and Steve McGonigle / The Dallas Morning News
Trucking companies often put non-English speakers, felons, addicts in driver's seat, but rarely take blame in fatal crashes.
When accidents occur, trucking companies defend their drivers and often blame the other vehicles – and in many cases the dead occupants – regardless of the evidence. They typically fight any release of information about their drivers and vehicles, and wage protracted legal battles to avoid blame.
More than 5,200 people died in accidents involving large trucks in the U.S. last year – 502 in Texas. The state consistently leads the nation in fatalities, in part because it has more roadway miles and the second highest number of registered trucks.
The state's fatality rate, measured in truck crash deaths per 100,000 people, was 24th nationwide. California, the only state whose volume of truck traffic exceeds Texas, ranked No. 38. Another 10,000 people, on average, are injured in Texas each year in crashes involving big trucks. Responsibility for these accidents is hotly contested; Texas Department of Public Safety DPS investigators typically don't assess blame. Even the department's database refers only to "contributing factors" not "cause."
The most comprehensive national study, released in March by the U.S. Department of Transportation, found that truck drivers were at fault in at least 44 percent of all accidents between cars and big trucks. The American Trucking Associations, which represents the industry's biggest companies, says trucks cause only about 25 percent of fatal accidents involving cars. When trucking companies are to blame, records show, it's because truckers drive too fast, don't pay attention, work too many hours or take to the road in poorly maintained equipment – sometimes with the knowledge and encouragement of their employers.
Many Texas trucking companies and their drivers also flout safety laws with little fear of punishment. Only about 1,000 of the state's more than 64,000 registered trucking companies faced compliance reviews last year. And only about 37 percent of the trucks inspected in Texas last year underwent the most thorough inspection, known as a Level 1. The majority of those were done on Mexican trucks that travel only a few miles north of the border before returning home.
Nationwide, the rates of fatal crashes and fatalities have declined about 24 percent in the last decade, in part because of rising seat-belt usage and safety innovations, such as airbags and anti-lock brakes. But the number of deaths in large-truck accidents is about the same as it was in 1994 because more trucks are on the road, driving more miles than ever.
In Texas, the number of intrastate carriers increased 43 percent in the past five years, with a similar increase in the number of interstate carriers based here. The number of registered large trucks in the U.S. increased 24 percent from 1994 to 2004. Business is so good, in fact, that U.S. trucking companies reported a record year in 2005: They generated $623 billion in revenue while hauling nearly 70 percent of the nation's freight.
To read more of this 3-part article, please click here to download a PDF.
<< BACK TO AUTO ACCIDENTS ARCHIVE