Based on data from the National Safety Council, crashes involving large trucks are three times more likely to result in an injury for passengers of other vehicles than the truck driver at a rate of 73% to 26%.
Adding to the risk of a personal injury accident or death is the fact that truck drivers are often pushed to their physical and mental limits to meet strict and sometimes unreasonable deadlines on their delivery obligations. Long hours on the road come at the expense of adequate sleep and safety.
In addition to the stress put on truck drivers, sometimes commercial vehicles are not maintained properly, whether it's simple negligence, or trucking companies taking shortcuts to increase their bottom line. Improperly maintained trucks lead to higher accident rates, due to part failures, such as malfunctioning brakes or tires, or unsecured cargo.
While non-commercial vehicles can haul small amounts of materials, big rigs not only carry exponentially more and heavier content, often that cargo can be just as dangerous as the truck itself. Toxic and/or explosive materials, when dislodged from containers can be harmful to people immediately involved in the collision, but others as well, including the surrounding environment.
Last, but certainly not least, some companies hire truck drivers with little or no training, or do no investigation into their background. When incompetent drivers operate large vehicles on the highways, accidents are bound to happen.
