Which Driver is at Fault?

Which Driver is at Fault?
August 12, 2008

According to statistics gathered by the Minnesota Trucking Association, U.S. roadways are the site of more than 40,000 vehicle related deaths each year – more than 110 deaths per day, on average. This horrific statistic is doubly frightening when one reads numerous studies attempting to find who is to blame for these tragedies but few studies that actually attack the root of the problem.

There is no argument that unfit drivers should stay off the roads. Whether a driver is suffering from severe fatigue, or has a medical condition that renders him incapable of driving safely, the best seat to occupy is the passenger seat, not the spot behind the wheel.

When an accident involves trucks and other vehicles, the immediate assumption of passersby is that the truck driver was at fault. One should not always rely on first impressions.

Of all the annual vehicle related deaths, 88 percent do not involve trucks. Moreover, of those accidents that do involve trucks, both public and private studies indicate that the drivers of the private vehicles were at fault in more than 70 percent of the accidents.

Fatigue is a primary cause of traffic fatalities. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation commissioned a study to investigate car-truck crashes. The study showed conclusive evidence that, on average, the driver of the car was twice as fatigued as the professional truck driver.

It should not be concluded that all drivers of private vehicles are less careful than their professional counterparts. However, government safety data indicates that the trucking industry is the safest it has been in the last three decades. Fatality, injury, and property-damage crash rates per 100 million miles are reported at all time lows. In addition, the reports state that medical problems are the cause for only 3 percent of truck accidents.

The trucking industry is in the business of providing quality service. Efficient, productive and safe drivers make good business sense. Therefore, the industry is committed to strong compliance with government regulations. Random drug and alcohol testing are commonplace. Annual physicals are required for drivers. Similarly, regulations govern where a truck may travel, under what conditions, and how much it may haul. A driver driving at peak performance levels gets the job done well and safely, guaranteeing future business. That's the bottom line.

Certainly, the trucking industry is not foolproof. Any human resource manager will tell you that there is no guarantee of 100 percent perfection when hiring personnel. However, the trucking industry continues to strive for extremely high standards. Their employees are trained professionals.

If only a fraction of the trucking industry standards were applied to private vehicles, the roadways would certainly be a far safer place to drive.