In Ft. Worth, two people were recently killed when the passenger vehicle they were traveling in hit the back of a semi truck. The man and woman in the car died at the scene of the crash.
According to investigators, the force at which the car crashed into the truck caused the vehicle to become stuck underneath the semi truck. The car had to be cut open with the jaws of life to remove the accident victims. The driver of the truck was not injured.
Rear-End Trucking Accidents
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute released a study with information on rear-end trucking accidents from 1994 to 1999. The data included crashes that occurred when a vehicle hit the back of a truck, as well as when a truck hit the rear end of another vehicle.
According to the organizations' data:
- Trucks hit in the rear end by another vehicle: There were a total of 42,000 of these kinds of accidents from 1994 to 1999. As a result of these accidents, 271 people died, 2,000 people were incapacitated and 3,000 people sustained injuries that did not incapacitate them.
- Trucks that hit the rear end of another vehicle: There were 28,000 of these kinds of accidents from 1994 to 1999. Of these accidents, there were 461 fatalities, 2,000 injuries left the victims incapacitated and 3,000 were non-incapacitating injuries.
The study indicates that some of the reasons for these rear-end accidents include the lighting conditions in the area where the accidents took place, poor brakes, driving under the influence of alcohol and not being careful when driving through intersections or on ramps and driveways.
Rear-end trucking accidents can cause catastrophic injuries and life-altering consequences. If you have been injured in such a collision, speak to a personal injury attorney to learn more about your legal rights and options for recovery.
