The European Commission (EC) and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) have published the findings of a unique scientific study, the European Truck Accident Causation (ETAC) study.
Knowing that there are many factors, which contribute to an accident and knowing that those factors are interlinked, the aim of the study was to identify the main causes of accidents involving trucks.
The study shows that human error is the main cause of 85.2 per cent of the studied cases. However, out of those 85.2 per cent, 75 per cent were caused by other road users and only 25 per cent by the truck driver.
In-depth analysis shows that when the human being caused the accident, non-adapted speed, failure to observe intersection rules and improper maneuvering when changing lanes were the main cause.
Truck load and fatigue played only a minor role. One of the concluding recommendations was that improving driver training and upgrading driving school programmes are key to improve road safety.
