Are There More Truck Accidents During the Holidays?

Due to their size and speed, a collision involving an 18-wheeler often has devastating results. Smaller passenger vehicles are often crushed with the occupants suffering serious injuries such as brain trauma, spinal cord damage and amputation. Unfortunately, the holiday season can introduce numerous factors that could increase the likelihood of a catastrophic truck collision.

These factors can include:

• Delivery schedule pressure: The holiday season brings increased consumer demand and pressure on the supply chain. Truckers are often encouraged to drive the maximum allotment of hours leading to fatigued driving. Additionally, truck drivers might speed or drive recklessly to make deliveries ahead of schedule to receive a pay bonus.
• Increased distractions: Whether it is phone conversations with loved ones or keeping up with friendly correspondence such as text and email, truck drivers often seek to pass the time while behind the wheel. Unfortunately, these activities pull focus and attention from the road potentially causing distracted driving collisions.
• Impaired driving: For a professional truck driver, impairment can mean a variety of things. Drugs and alcohol are the most common examples, but drivers could also find themselves relying on strong cold medicine or prescription medications with serious side effects.
• Lack of rest: Pressure to maintain a tight schedule or complete deliveries to get home for the holidays could encourage a trucker to push past their natural limits of exhaustion. Fatigued driving can lead to the loss of focus, perceptive challenges and eventually falling asleep while in control of the truck.
• Crowded roads: With normal commuters on the roads, the increased holiday travel and augmented truck delivery schedule means there are even more cars and trucks on the roads.
• Poor weather: While Albuquerque might not see regular snowstorms over the winter months, changing weather patterns can still cause problems. Strong winds, rain, fog and the occasional flurry can all lead to a dangerous trip.

Any of these factors can result in a traffic disaster. Unfortunately, the holiday season can lead to the combination of many factors at the same time.

Motor vehicle collisions involving large commercial trucks can have devastating results. From the severe property damage to the catastrophic injuries suffered by vehicle occupants, these crashes can be life-changing. Depending on factors such as the speed of the collision, these crashes could prove fatal.