In 2017, California recorded a slight dip in the number of people who died in motor vehicle accidents. That year, 3,602 accident fatalities were recorded statewide compared to 3,837 in 2016. However, when looking at the number of deaths that resulted from accidents involving tractor-trailers or other large trucks, the story is different. The number of truck accident deaths in 2017 rose for the fourth consecutive year.
Between 2013 and 2017, vehicular fatalities involving large trucks increased every year from 259 in 2013 to 361 in 2017. In 2014, 2015 and 2016, there were 301, 305 and 354 deaths, respectively. This is a concerning trend, especially as the federal government has implemented new regulations designed to address trucker fatigue during this period of time. A new database focusing on substance abuse has also been in the works to prevent or crack down on impaired driving by truckers.
During that same five-year span, Santa Clara County experienced the third-highest number of truck accident fatalities among any of its neighboring counties. In all, there were 33 truck crash deaths in Santa Clara County, 37 in Alameda County and 41 in Merced County. Stanislaus and Monterey Counties recorded 29 and 22 deaths, respectively. In San Mateo County, another nine lives were lost in truck collisions. Santa Cruz County was the location of seven deaths and San Benito County saw five such deaths.
If you would like to learn more about what you should do after you or someone in your family has been involved in an accident involving a semi-truck or other large truck, please feel free to visit the commercial truck crash assistance page of our California personal injury website.
>