New York State keeps track of truck accidents in detail, and provides annual statistics annually on its New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) website. The most recent New York stats on truck accidents cover 2013. They provide in-depth information about truck accidents that occurred throughout the state during that year.
Information about semi-truck crashes appears in the table entitled Summary of Large Truck Crashes. Here are some of things that the state tracks and reports in this table:
- The total number of fatal large truck crashes in New York: 92
- Number of people killed in large truck crashes: 105
- Number of large truck drivers killed: 10
- Number of small truck drivers killed: 43
- The number of non-fatal crashes: 3,580
- Number of vehicles involved: 20,629
- Number of large truck drivers involved: 10, 519
The most common cause of truck crashes in 2013 was driver inattention and distraction, followed by following too closely, failure to yield right-of-way, unsafe lane changes and other lane use and passing violations. This applies both to injury-only crashes and those involving wrongful death.
In the New York City area, the most dangerous road for large trucks is the stretch of I-95 that crosses the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge. According to one report, truck drivers will go 30 or 40 miles out of their way to avoid using the bridge, which carries traffic from New Jersey into the Bronx. Truckers complain of gridlock and out of control potholes that make driving very dangerous for vehicles of any size.