Big Rig Accidents in Connecticut
Tractor-trailer accidents are problematic on Connecticut’s network of heavily traveled interstates and U.S. and state roads. Semi-trucks are just a small percentage of all commercial trucks in the country, but travel a significant portion of the quarter trillion miles (based on 2006 numbers) that commercial vehicles do every year. A full semi-truck and trailer can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, making it quite a hazard if the driver loses control.
According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the number of fatalities involving large trucks in Connecticut are as follows.
| Year | Accident Fatalities | Occupants of a Large Truck |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 37 | 8 |
| 2014 | 21 | 4 |
| 2013 | 20 | 2 |
| 2012 | 16 | 2 |
| 2011 | 14 | 4 |
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) last issue a report on 2014 crashes. There were 61 crashes that year involving truck tractors; 10 of them resulted in injuries, and none led to fatalities. The report noted 42 crashes of tractor double trailers with seven resulting in injuries. Also, there were six crashes involving tractor triple trailers. The numbers are higher for truck-trailer combos, with 632 accidents reported, and 104 causing injuries.
Tractor-trailer crashes from 2005 to 2014 were also tracked by the state DOT. Here is a look at these accidents, based on severity.
| Year | Property Damage | Injuries | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1,940 | 368 | 8 |
| 2013 | 1,923 | 381 | 11 |
| 2012 | 1,692 | 337 | 14 |
| 2011 | 1,765 | 383 | 8 |
| 2010 | 1,914 | 433 | 13 |
| 2009 | 2,067 | 444 | 5 |
| 2008 | 2,062 | 464 | 11 |
| 2007 | 2,341 | 452 | 12 |
| 2006 | 1,604 | 417 | 13 |
| 2005 | 2,052 | 539 | 6 |
Facts issued in 2011, by the DOT’s Bureau of Policy and Planning, indicated 2,466 tractor-trailer accidents, with 472 resulting in injuries and 13 resulting in fatalities. For 1999, it revealed 2,273 accidents, so the trends are somewhat constant despite a variability among sources. The number of incidents bottomed out in 2004 and 2005 before returning to the same levels in 2006 as in 2000.
Other trends noted by the report include:
- Most tractor trailer involved crashes occurred during weekdays, and 32 percent of crashes happened between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- More than 63 percent of crashes happened on interstates, a total of 1,478.
- Just over 5 percent of truck crashes occurred on a U.S. route.
- The most severe Interstate crashes happened on I-84, I-91, and I-95.
- The most tractor-trailer related injuries occurred on I-95 and I-84.
As they are anywhere, big rigs are more likely to involve fatalities than accidents involving just passenger vehicles. Accidents are often head-on collisions, but right or left turns, negotiating curves, and impacts, while another vehicle is stopped in a traffic lane, are also circumstances in which crashes take place.