Worst Truck Accidents in U.S. History

Truck Accidents are Often Complex Personal Injury Cases

Truck accidents often involve more than one vehicle and many people can be injured in one incident. This can further complicate truck accident cases and make it difficult to get to the bottom of who is responsible for the accident.

Bailey Cowan and Heckaman have represented many clients in complex truck accident cases. To give you an idea of how devastating truck accidents can be, we’ve compiled a list of the worst truck accidents in U.S. History. Meanwhile, if you have been injured in a truck accident, contact us today for a free consultation.

The 7 Worst Truck Accidents in the US

Forbes Advisor reports that there were over 100,000 injury truck accidents in 2021 alone. The number of truck accidents increases each year. 

Here are the worst truck accidents in US history:

1. New Jersey Turnpike Pile Up (1973): Nine dead and 40 injured in a multiple-car and truck pileup due to adverse weather conditions.
2. Caldecott Tunnel Truck Fire (California, 1982): A drunk driver caused a truck carrying gasoline to catch fire, resulting in seven deaths and multiple injuries.
3. Catoosa County Interstate 75 Pile Up (Georgia, 2002): Dense fog caused two trucks to collide and jump the median, ultimately resulting in a 125-vehicle pile-up with four deaths and many injuries. 
4. The Two Teen Sisters Accident (North Carolina, 2017): Two teen sisters were killed when a truck sideswiped their parent's car, then hit it again causing them to go underneath another truck. 
5. Galesburg I-94 Fireworks Pile Up (Michigan, 2019): This pile-up involved two trucks, one carrying acid and another fireworks. It resulted in a 193-vehicle collision with several explosions, resulting in one death and many injuries.
6. Houston Ammonia Truck Driver Crash (Texas, 1976): A speeding tanker carrying ammonia crashed and caught fire, ultimately causing one death and over 170 injuries.
7. Interstate 10 Pile Up (California, 2002): The largest pile-up in US History, this 216-vehicle pile-up was caused when a semi-truck jumped the center barrier during rush hour.

There are many more truck accidents that have made US headlines in the last thirty years, but these represent the accidents with the most injuries and the worst circumstances. You can see that truck accidents can be caused by many factors, not just driver negligence.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents?

Adverse weather conditions, including fog, are a common cause of truck accidents and pile-ups, but there are many other causes of these accidents.

According to Forbes Advisor, the most common causes of truck accidents are:

• Inattentive drivers (5.2% of fatalities in 2021)
• Impaired drivers (5.2% of fatalities in 2021)
• Speeding truck drivers (7.3% of fatalities in 2021)
• Bad weather conditions (13% of fatalities in 2021)
• Driver intoxication (6.7% of fatalities in 2021)

In some cases, more than one of these might have been a cause of the truck accident. In these statistics, impaired drivers and intoxicated drivers are separate. In this case, impaired drivers refer to drivers who have not had the required number of hours of rest. 

Have You Been Injured in a Truck Accident?

If you have been injured in a truck accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. It is important to talk to an attorney as soon after the accident as possible so that an investigation into the cause of the accident can be made. 

At Bailey Cowan and Heckaman, we are dedicated to getting fair compensation for our truck accident clients. Contact us today at (888) 367-7160 to schedule a free consultation and get a review of your case.