Take the average vehicle and compare it to one made 30 years ago. You will notice many improved safety features. Each year, vehicle manufacturers battle each other to gain a sales advantage by offering updated safety technology that their competitors do not yet provide. They push each other to produce ever-safer trucks. However, despite the advances in technology, more people are being killed in truck crashes than at any point during the last 30 years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
When a semitruck has an accident, the chances are high that someone will get severely injured or killed. Often more than one person. They are some of the most dangerous vehicles on our roads due to their size and weight.
Yet, many trucking companies are not taking full advantage of the latest safety improvements. They continue to send their staff out onto the roads in older vehicles that they know are more dangerous to the drivers and other road users.
Money is a factor, as the better equipped a vehicle, the more it costs. However, when you consider the cost of a potential truck crash, in loss of life and devastation caused to families, it makes the failure to spend on safety harder to justify. Besides, trucking companies need to consider how much new technology can save them in lawsuits and negative publicity. It will prove money well-spent in the long-term.
If you are injured in a truck crash, or if you lose a family member, it can be galling to know the truck owner could have prevented the accident by spending a few thousand dollars on upgrading their tractor-trailers for ones with the latest crash-avoidance technology.