In 280 billion miles of travel on United States roads in 2015, large commercial vehicles were involved in more than 400,000 crashes, resulting in 116,000 injuries and 4,067 deaths. Because technological advancements may provide the opportunity to prevent many of these accidents, injuries, and deaths, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently conducted a study comparing the economic costs and benefits of installing advanced safety technologies on large trucks (Leveraging Large-Truck Technology and Engineering to Realize Safety Gains).
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a not-for-profit educational organization founded by the American Automobile Association to conduct research studies and create strategies to prevent traffic deaths and injuries. The study’s cost-benefit analysis found that installing advanced safety technologies on all large trucks would potentially prevent the following number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities in the U.S. every year:
Lane departure warning systems:
- 6,372 accidents
- 1,342 injuries
- 115 fatalities
Video-based onboard safety monitoring systems:
- 63,000 accidents
- 17,733 injuries
- 293 fatalities
Automatic emergency braking systems:
- 5,294 accidents
- 2,753 injuries
- 55 fatalities
Air disc brakes:
- 2,411 accidents
- 1,447 injuries
- 37 fatalities
This study makes clear that many lives could be saved and tragedies averted if the trucking companies were more concerned with the safety of American motorists than with their own bottom lines. It is long past time for these technological safety advances to be required on all large commercial vehicles.
If you have been injured in an accident with a large truck or tractor-trailer, please contact Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman for a free consultation. We only receive a fee in the event of a successful resolution of your case.
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