Statistics on Trucking Accidents in Eureka
Trucks are a major part of the California economy, and most communities rely heavily on big-rigs to supply them with food and essentials. For this reason, there are plenty of large trucks on local roads. As the seat of Humboldt County and the largest city in the region, Eureka has plenty of big-rigs coming and going through the area every day. While it’s not possible to say exactly when or where an accident will take place, you can improve your safety by learning about how collisions happen in your area. Those who spend time on local roads may be interested in these statistics on trucking accidents in Eureka.
Accidents Overview
The following data is taken from UC Berkeley research and represents injury-causing accidents reported by local authorities between the beginnings of 2008 and 2020. During this time, there were 2.674 total traumatic collisions within the city of Eureka. These crashes included 54 big-rig accidents, meaning that trucking collisions accounted for about 2 percent of crashes within the city.
In the period of time, there were 8,099 traumatic crashes across Humboldt County. These included 187 trucking collisions. This means that trucking accidents were about as common throughout the county as they were within Eureka. Notably, this means that almost 30 percent of all Humboldt County big-rig accidents happened inside of Eureka city limits.
Truck Accidents Are Serious
Big-rigs are much more likely to cause serious damage in the event of a collision. Because of their massive size, these vehicles carry a huge amount of force into accidents. In Eureka, truck accidents had a fatality rate of 3.7, over double the rate for collisions overall. Across all of Humboldt, 11.23 percent of big-rig accidents were deadly, making trucking crashes more than three times as fatal as most collisions in the area.
What Causes Trucking Accidents?
Trucking collisions can be caused by a variety of reasons. One of the reasons that big-rigs become involved in accidents is that their size makes it difficult for drivers to maneuver around obstacles. Likewise, trucks take a long time to come to a complete stop, which also makes it hard to avoid accidents.
Trucking accidents also often happen because companies push unrealistic shipping schedules on drivers. When companies do this, it encourages truckers to skip sleep in order to make deliveries on time. This is very dangerous, as driving while fatigued can have similar effects as driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Not only is it dangerous for companies to enforce these schedules, but it is also illegal. Drivers are required by law to take breaks at specific times to avoid fatigued driving.
Claiming Compensation
Trucking companies are aware that their vehicles pose a serious risk. For this reason, these companies are almost always prepared to take legal action as soon as a crash takes place. By taking action early, these companies hope to disclaim their financial responsibility for damages.
For this reason, it’s especially important to get in touch with an attorney as soon as you can if you’ve been hurt during a big-rig accident. Learn more about why quick action is important by watching the following video:
Other Blogs from Eureka Truck Accident Lawyer, Ed Smith
- Two Injured During Eureka Collision
- How a Eureka Truck Accident Lawyer Can Help You
- Pedestrian Killed in Eureka Car Crash
Eureka Truck Accident Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Eureka truck accident lawyer. If a truck collision caused you serious trauma, call (800) 404-5400 or (707) 564-1900 for my free, friendly advice.
I have helped Eureka area families and individuals with injury claims for 38 years. Through this time, I’ve been able to help my clients obtain many settlements and verdicts. Learn more about me by reading reviews listed at:
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