Any sort of accident is scary, but truck accidents are way scarier and more dangerous than those accidents involving cars or motorbikes. There is no comparison between the truck and car accidents because cars are extremely lighter in weight (4,000 pounds) than a truck (30,000 pounds). Here is another key factor that plays a lead role in any mishap that is the driver of the vehicle. Every year, nearly 500,000 truck accidents occur in the United States including truck accidents in Riverside , accidents in Colorado’s mountain roads, and especially in North Dakota with 8.8% mishaps.
As mentioned above, the driver is the most important factor to control the accident. So, the following are some of the common causes of truck accidents.
Unfocused Driving
Across the world, unfocused driving is one of the main problems that led to severe injuries, whether it’s a highway or a local road. Unfocused driving is any action that distracts the driver’s attention and focuses on the basic task of driving. Sometimes long-distance driving turns into a boring journey because, during your way, you might not access strong radio or internet signal. In case if the trucker is getting bore, then he will definitely seek other tasks to perform, such as looking at his phone, eating while driving, etc.
Driver Tiredness
Driving a truck isn’t a piece of cake, and it’s a highly stressful and fully pressure job to do. Usually, transport or any other companies that contain trucks will provide drivers with a specific destination to reach in a short time period. So, the driver has to pass through a very tough routine, including little rest and a few breaks. Sometimes, the routes are extensive that can take several days to reach the destination that significantly interrupts the driver’s sleep. Consequently, drivers fail to meet high concentration on-road and even slower to respond to a sudden mishap on the road. The factor point can easily be managed at companies end by offering certain relaxation to drivers.
Alcohol and Drugs
Here comes the most important factor that you see in most of the accidents, which are the consumption of drugs and alcohol while driving. A high percentage of truck drivers consume cocaine and amphetamines to stimulate themselves to be awakened. You must listen to the fact that around 30% of drivers confessed to consuming amphetamines while driving. Research showed 20% used marijuana, and 3% take cocaine. No doubt, taking drugs to help a lot to be awakened, but most of the time it compels them to deal with more concerns such as wrong lane change, faster driving, and follow hazardous actions in bad weather condition.
Over Speeding and Overtaking
Sometimes truck drivers didn’t meet the on-time delivery, but they try anyway. When there is a tight deadline, it creates a lot of pressure on drivers’ mind which lead to over speeding, unsafe overtaking, and inappropriate manoeuvres that risk their lives.
Inappropriate Training and Vehicle Maintenance
You can deal with anything but inappropriate training. Every country undergoes proper rules and regulations to follow a training session before driving a heavy vehicle. But newbie drivers usually ignore it, and they anyway get on the road without passing those requirements.
Another factor is poor maintenance of the vehicle that sometimes led to terrible truck accidents. So, do follow a proper training session and schedule maintenance to avoid any kind of disaster.
All the above-discussed causes are considered as the common causes of truck accidents. Please avoid these factors to avert any mishap on the road.