Truck accidents tend to cause more injuries and property damage due to their greater size. They also tend to increase over the holidays because of the increase in the number of trucks on the road during this period. Truck accident statistics for Southern California are readily available from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, or NHTSA.
Holiday travel and truck accidents
The Automobile Club of Southern California estimates about 7.3 million people in Southern California will travel at least 50 miles during the Christmas holidays of 2012. This number represents an increase of about 1.8 percent from the same period of 2011, according to the American Automobile Association.
Part of this increase is attributable to the decrease in gas prices occurring over the last two months. The holidays are also busy for tow truck drivers, according to a spokesman for the California Tow Truck Association.
The California Highway Patrol will increase traffic enforcement during the holidays for a variety of violations, especially DUI. CHP reported 14 traffic fatalities and 980 arrests within the three-day period of maximum enforcement during the 2011 Christmas holidays. Half of the people killed were not wearing their seat belts.
In our next post we will provide a more in-depth look at truck accident statistics.
