Recent studies show deadly crashes involving large trucks are going up

ATLANTA — Recent numbers show deadly crashes involving large trucks are going up.

It's a concern as our highways become more and more clogged.

Overall the number of deadly crashes on the roads is down slightly, except for one category: ones involving large trucks like what happened in Henry County on Thursday. It shut down Interstate 75 for most of the day.

According to a study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2017, the year with most recent data, fatal crashes involving large trucks rose by nearly 10 percent from the year before.

That includes medium and heavy-duty trucks as well as tractor trailers.

Thursday's fiery crash was followed a few hours later by a crash on I-285 in Cobb County where a semi collided with another car.

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Not surprisingly, research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows most deaths in large truck crashes are those in the much smaller cars, pickups or SUVs involved.

That number hit its lowest point during the economic downturn in 2009, but according to their data, the number of deaths steadily rose over the last seven years, up close to 30 percent since then.

The Governor's Office of Highway Safety recently had this advice for all of us on the roads:

"Know the speed limits there for your protection, wear your seatbelts, put down the phones and pay attention to the road."

Cox Media Group