The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a preliminary report related to a July tractor-trailer accident that forced a woman’s car off of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. According to accident investigators, the big rig driver claims he was distracted by noise and lights behind his vehicle when he collided with the back of a 24-year-old woman’s Chrysler Sebring and forced the car into the vehicle stopped in front of her. The impact allegedly caused the passenger vehicle to be squeezed upwards and then travel over the side of the bridge into the bay. The Chrysler reportedly fell 27 feet before sinking. Thankfully, the young woman was able to swim to a nearby bridge pylon before being rescued by boaters. The semi driver was apparently traveling on his first solo trip.
Sadly, horrific accidents like this one are caused by inattentive tractor-trailer drivers in New Mexico and across the country all too often. According to the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the costs associated with commercial vehicle crashes across the nation exceeded $89 billion in 2011. In 2010, 3,675 people were tragically killed and about 80,000 were hurt in an accident that involved a tractor-trailer. Only 25 percent of those hurt and 14 percent of those killed were riding in a semi-truck.
About 34 percent of 18-wheeler collisions in 2010 were caused by a semi-truck driver. FMCSA data claims the top five factors that led to those accidents were speed, failure to maintain the proper lane, obscured vision, failure to yield, and distraction or inattention. A big rig driver was reportedly responsible for approximately one-fourth of the 318 deadly rear-end semi-truck wrecks that occurred across the U.S. in 2010.
In the State of New Mexico, an estimated 1,400 large truck collisions occur annually. Due to the size and weight of semi-trucks, crashes are normally serious or fatal. In fact, an individual purportedly sustained a disabling injury in about one out of every 15 New Mexico semi-truck crashes and someone was killed in one out of every 35 such accidents. To compare, a New Mexico driver or passenger is killed in only one out of every 130 non-truck collisions.
New Mexico law enforcement officials claim about 25 percent of all semi wrecks in our state are caused by a distracted driver. If you were seriously hurt by a negligent semi-truck driver in New Mexico, you should contact a quality attorney.
Call the Fine Law Firm at (505) 889-3463 if you were hurt or lost a treasured family member in a New Mexico truck accident. Our hardworking tractor-trailer crash lawyers have more than 100 years of combined experience helping 18-wheeler accident victims across the State of New Mexico recover the damages they deserve based upon the severity of their harm. To schedule a free, confidential case evaluation with an experienced advocate, please contact the Fine Law Firm through our website.
More Blog Posts:
Three Tragically Killed in Bernalillo Crash Involving Big Rig, New Mexico Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, August 22, 2013
Speeding Semi Flips on Interstate Interchange in Albuquerque, New Mexico Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, July 24, 2013
Additional Resources:
NTSB report: Truck driver in Bay Bridge accident said he was distracted, by Ashley Halsey III, Washington Post