The California Highway Patrol has noticed an uptick in trucking traffic as well as trucking accidents. A recent six-car pileup on I-5 is just one example of how many people can be hurt or killed in just one accident. A heavy truck was traveling northbound on I-5 close to Griffith Park when it swerved out of its lane and slammed a median barrier. More truck traffic means a higher chance of major accidents that can cause significant damage.

 

One person was killed and ten individuals were injured. Tens of thousands of commercial trucks move along the congested freeways of Southern California every single day. Trucking accidents involving these vehicles are the most expensive and the deadliest in the country and they are on the rise. Southern California is particularly vulnerable to truck collisions because of the commerce. The busiest complex in the nation is Los Angeles-Long Beach.

 

Heavy trucks and the resulting truck traffic add more than 8 million miles every single day on the regional freeways of Southern California. As the economy has recovered the number of trucks on the road and trucking accidents has only increased. In 2009, trucking collisions hit a historic low in California, but that number has climbed steadily since 2014.
The majority of fatal truck crashes happen on rural roads at higher speeds, but there are significant dangers on the busy and congested freeways of Southern California. The stopping distance required for these large commercial vehicles, which can weigh up to 40 tons, is more than twice the length of a football field, which is a space that is impossible to come by on the crowded highways of SoCal.