The recent reports Auto accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of thirty-four. Annually, auto accidents are responsible for over 400,000 deaths. At an average rate of 115 fatalities per day, auto accidents cost a staggering 150 billion dollars yearly. You are likely to be involved in at least one auto accident in your lifetime.

If you are involved in an auto accident, calls the police immediately-even if no one was injured-and file an accident report. Auto Accident Attorney Reportsfor insurance purposes to determine fault, so verify that the report is thorough. The auto accident report should include interviews with all involved parties and any witnesses. Photographs and/or diagrams of auto accident scenes are often supplied by the police as well. You can also take pictures of the auto accident, and gather as much information as possible. Get the names and phone numbers of all auto accident witnesses, as well as anyone involved in the accident itself.

Each year thousands of motorists and big rig drivers are killed and catastrophically injured by the negligent operation of trucks and tractor trailers by their drivers and by trucking companies. Semi-truck drivers and the companies they work for have a duty to operate their vehicles in a safe and responsible manner. Unsafe driving, oversized loads and various other treacherous practices put the public and the truck operators in danger. Large trucks - trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds - represent only 3% of all registered vehicles on the road in the U.S., yet they account for over 25% of the deaths in multiple vehicle traffic accidents and 98% of those killed or injured in trucking accidents will not be truck drivers. Here are some alarming statistics:

• EVERY 16 MINUTES OF EVERY DAY, another person in the United States will be injured or killed in a truck related accident.
• Over four hundred and fifty thousand large trucks were involved in crashes last year.
• Over one million people were involved in the crashes.
• Over five thousand people were killed.
• Over one hundred and forty thousand people were injured.
• One third of the injured suffered catastrophic damage.

While mechanical failures, reckless driving and improper driver training account for some crashes, the overwhelming cause is driver fatigue. The National Highway Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) reports that driver fatigue is responsible for 30% to 40% of all large truck crashes and is the probable cause in over 30% of crashes that resulted in the truck driver's death. In a recent survey, almost 20% of truckers admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at least once in the previous three month period.

All motorists should be aware of the dangers associated with sharing our roads with big rigs. Recent studies have concluded that automobile drivers must also accept responsibility for many of the tragedies resulting from car-truck accidents.