How Many Trucking Accidents Happen at Night?
Most motorists know that certain factors, including inclement weather and heavy traffic, increase the risk of accidents occurring. Nighttime driving can be done for a number of different reasons.
How many trucking accidents happen at night, though? We address that question below and explain why tractor-trailer crashes occur when it’s dark outside.
How Often Do Tractor-Trailer Crashes Occur After Dark?
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data suggests that the following types of truck-involved collisions occur between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily, a time frame considered as during the night:
- Trucking crashes resulting in injuries: 24%
- Truck accidents leading to fatalities: 37%
- Tractor-trailer wrecks causing only property damage: 21%
Considering how there were 119,000 truck-involved crashes that resulted in injuries and 5,904 that caused deaths in 2021 per the FMCSA, it’s likely that the number of trucking accidents that happen at night is certainly in the tens of thousands based on the percentages outlined above.
Why Do Trucking Accidents Happen at Night?
Many of the factors that led to tractor-trailer crashes at night are the same ones responsible for any other type of motor vehicle collision at any other time of the day, including:
Intoxicated Driving
Whether we’re talking about drugs or alcohol, either is a big problem for truckers, just like any other drivers.
A Reuters news report from a few years back outlined how the use of illegal and legal drugs, especially psychotropic medications, was particularly common among truck drivers. Alcohol abuse, especially given how truckers often spend weeks on end alone out on the road, is quite common as well.
We’ve all heard the public service announcements (PSAs) highlighting the dangers drunk driving poses to our fellow motorists. The risk of being caught and charged with a criminal offense doesn’t deter truckers from operating their 80,000-pound tractor-trailer while drunk. Nor does the risk of taking their own life or someone else’s appear to phase them, either.
Double or blurred vision and diminished motor skills or reflexes are often associated with intoxication from substances like these. These, along with decreased nighttime visibility, make for a dangerous situation for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and others who truckers share the road with at dark.
Drowsy Driving
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data shows that in 2017, at least 91,000 accidents nationwide were attributable to sleepy or tired motorists. An estimated 50,000 injuries and 800 deaths stemmed from these incidents.
Truckers aren’t immune to drowsy driving, even though they are subject to hours of service regulations. They often fail to take their time off to rest or push the limits and drive beyond when they’re allowed to do so, hoping they won’t be caught, putting their and everyone else’s lives at risk.
Truck crashes caused by drowsy driving may occur more than one would like to admit. After all, our bodies have natural circadian rhythms that agitate them toward sleeping at different times of the day (such as night). However, this is when truckers often like to drive as traffic is lowest.
Other Types of Reckless Driving
Speeding, failing to yield to the right of way of others, and following too closely for conditions are just a few of many examples of preventable forms of reckless driving that lead to truck accidents. Visibility issues at nighttime can only matter worse, potentially intensifying crashes that occur.
Getting Help If a Nighttime Truck Accident Injured You or Took the Life of a Family Member
There are some types of crashes that tend to be more catastrophic than others. Truck crashes that occur at high rates of speed, including ones caused by drunk drivers, head-on truck collisions, and ones involving pedestrians and others without any protection to absorb any of the crash impacts, can be significant.
Whether you suffered debilitating injuries after being struck by a truck in Portland or a loved one alone, unfortunately, lost their life in such a crash, our legal team at Trucking Injury Law Group can help.
Get in touch with us by phone or email to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss what happened and what rights Oregon law affords you. We’re eager to speak with you and advise you of the rights you have to secure compensation for your losses.
