These recent truck accidents in Michigan are a reminder of just how vulnerable automobiles really are.
Since the mid-1990s, the number of fatal accidents involving trucks in Michigan has nearly doubled. In addition, accidents involving trucks have nearly tripled since 2000. Truck accidents have been so common that some states have passed laws specifically designed to prevent them. In Michigan, that is accomplished through the use of a “red flag” law. To be in a truck accident, an injured driver must have a “red flag” of at least two injured parties.
According to the latest state stats from the Michigan State Highway Patrol, there were a total of 3,262 truck accidents in Michigan between the years 2000 and 2010. Just in the first week of 2011, there were yet another 3,242. That’s approximately a 27% increase.
What makes a red flag? According to the Michigan State Highway Patrol, a red flag is simply a signal that a vehicle is in an accident. It doesn’t mean that the vehicle has gotten into an accident. In other words, the car itself is not in an accident, the driver is.
The number of truck accidents in Michigan in 2011 was much higher than the number of motor vehicle accidents. However, there were still far fewer crashes in 2011 compared to 2000. The statistics are from the “Michigan State Highway Patrol.
Michigan should be a safer place with little traffic accidents. If you go to a gas station, you’ll see that the drivers are usually in the right lane, with the right side of the road. And since that is the side of the road where the accidents take place, those drivers should not be distracted by the accidents taking place there.
I agree. I just hope that the people who are being distracted by these accidents are not the ones driving.
You’re about to get yourself a new truck and your friends are going to be very upset about it. They’ll be worried that your friends are going to let you drive their truck.
You might want to think about that too. After all, it isn’t just the people who are distracted by the accidents that are driving, it’s the people not distracted by the accidents. In fact, it’s a lot harder to keep a straight face when you see an accident than when you see a person being killed.
If you need more proof, consider that the last time there was a fatal truck accident in Michigan, it was on Valentine’s Day and just two days after a driver called 911 and said he was driving drunk.
