Truck crashes rarely have one cause. FMCSA’s 2022 national data and TxDOT’s 2024 Texas data record contributing factors such as speed, inattention, fatigue, impairment, vehicle defects and other drivers’ mistakes, but neither records fault. Each cause points to a different party, whether the driver, the trucking company, a maintenance shop, a loader or another motorist, so finding the cause comes first in a claim.
The short version
- Harris County leads Texas in truck crashes. TxDOT counted 6,313 crashes involving a commercial motor vehicle in Harris County in 2024, 41 of them fatal, out of 39,393 crashes statewide.
- Texas leads the nation in fatal ones. FMCSA counts 691 fatal crashes involving large trucks in Texas in 2022, the most of any state, out of 5,279 nationwide.
- The truck is not always the starting point. FMCSA’s summary says the critical precrash event for 63 percent of large trucks in 2022 fatal crashes was something else in or entering the truck’s lane.
- Driver factors are spread across several behaviors. Speeding of any kind was recorded for 6.4 percent of truck drivers in fatal crashes, careless or inattentive driving for 5.7 percent, and distraction and impairment for 4.8 percent each.
- Every cause has a matching defendant. Texas divides blame by percentage among everyone responsible (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 33), so the cause shapes whom a claim names.
What does crash data say is behind truck accidents?
Mostly a mix of driver behavior, other road users and, less often, the vehicle. In FMCSA’s 2022 national data, at least one driver-related factor was recorded for 33.2 percent of large-truck drivers in fatal crashes, and the most common were speeding, careless driving, distraction, impairment and failure to yield.
FMCSA’s annual crash report covering 2022, counts about 503,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks. Of those, 5,279 (1 percent) were fatal and 114,000 (23 percent) caused injuries. The report is blunt about its limits: its sources “do not include data on crash causation or fault,” so each factor below is what investigators coded, which is not a court’s decision. Because a driver can have several factors, the rows overlap.
| Driver-related factor | Count | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Speeding of any kind | 371 | 6.4% |
| Careless, inattentive or improper driving | 328 | 5.7% |
| Distraction or inattention (cell phone, eating, lost in thought) | 279 | 4.8% |
| Impairment (fatigue, alcohol, illness) | 276 | 4.8% |
| Failure to yield right of way | 274 | 4.8% |
| Vision obscured (weather, roadway design, vehicles) | 205 | 3.6% |
| Improper lane usage | 163 | 2.8% |
| Following improperly | 112 | 1.9% |
| At least one driver-related factor | 1,913 | 33.2% |
Source: FMCSA’s 2022 crash report, People Table 29 (NHTSA FARS data); numbers as printed.
Two-thirds of those drivers had no driver-related factor recorded at all, which is the first reason a crash needs its own investigation rather than a label. Distraction has its own article: proving a truck driver was distracted. Texas’s all-vehicle numbers, which are not truck-specific, are in our reading of TxDOT’s crash tables.
How many truck crashes happen in Houston and Harris County?
TxDOT counted 6,313 crashes involving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in Harris County in 2024, more than any other Texas county. Forty-one were fatal crashes, killing 41 people, and 98 more involved suspected serious injuries. Statewide the count was 39,393 CMV crashes and 608 deaths.
The figures come from TxDOT’s 2024 table of CMV-involved crashes by county (TxDOT says reports were processed through 9 April 2025). TxDOT’s definitions say a commercial motor vehicle crash is one the investigating officer flagged by selecting the “CMV” indicator on the CR-3 report. By simple division, Harris County had about 16 percent of the state’s CMV crashes (6,313 of 39,393) but about 7 percent of its CMV-crash deaths (41 of 608).
| County | Total crashes | Fatal crashes | Deaths | Suspected serious-injury crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | 6,313 | 41 | 41 | 98 |
| Dallas | 3,857 | 27 | 29 | 108 |
| Montgomery | 671 | 8 | 8 | 17 |
| Fort Bend | 605 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Brazoria | 283 | 5 | 6 | 14 |
| Galveston | 229 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| All Texas counties | 39,393 | 546 | 608 | 1,261 |
Do not compare these with FMCSA’s counts above: TxDOT’s CMV flag is an officer’s judgment on a Texas report and FMCSA’s “large truck” is a federal definition, so the totals measure different things in different years. Several rows match our local truck pages: The Woodlands in Montgomery County, Sugar Land in Fort Bend, Galveston, and Pasadena and Baytown in Harris County.
Is the truck driver always the cause of the crash?
No. FMCSA’s summary of its 2022 data says the critical precrash event for 63 percent of large trucks in fatal crashes was another vehicle, person, animal or object in the truck’s lane or encroaching into it, against 24 percent for the truck’s own movement or loss of control. Fault is still proved case by case.
The table behind that summary is Vehicles Table 27. Another vehicle encroaching into the truck’s lane was the critical event for 2,063 of 5,837 trucks (35.3 percent); another vehicle already in the lane, 1,590 (27.2 percent); the truck’s own movement, 1,255 (21.5 percent); pedestrians, a separate row, 419 (7.2 percent); and the truck’s loss of control, 167 (2.9 percent). The same report says 82 percent of the people killed in fatal crashes involving large trucks were not in the truck.
A Houston case shows why details matter. KPRC Click2Houston reported on 12 April 2026 that, late on a Friday night on Wallisville Road in northeast Houston, witnesses told police a red Cadillac was speeding when it went underneath an 18-wheeler that was exiting a private drive, then struck a second 18-wheeler; the Cadillac’s driver died, intoxication was not suspected for either truck driver, and the crash was still under investigation. A witness account in a first report is not a finding. Where a truck’s movement and another driver’s speed both play a part, Texas splits responsibility by percentage, which is explained in our article on comparative negligence.
Which cause points to which defendant?
Driver behavior points first at the driver, but several federal rules also reach the carrier: it may not demand or allow driving when fatigue or illness makes it unsafe, schedule runs that need speeds above the limit, or neglect maintenance. Vehicle defects can point to a maintenance shop or manufacturer, and a bad load to whoever loaded it.
| Cause | What the data shows | Parties it can point to | Rule behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed or following too closely | Speeding of any kind: 371 drivers (6.4%) in 2022 fatal crashes | The driver; a carrier that schedules runs needing speeds over the limit | Transp. Code §§ 545.351, 545.062; 49 CFR 392.6 |
| Fatigue | “Asleep or fatigued”: 71 drivers (1.2%) in 2022 fatal crashes | The driver; a carrier that requires or permits an impaired driver to drive | 49 CFR 392.3 |
| Distraction | 279 drivers (4.8%) | The driver; a carrier that allows or requires texting or hand-held phone use | 49 CFR 392.80, 392.82 |
| Impairment by alcohol, drugs or medication | 140 drivers (2.4%) | The driver; the employer that tests and supervises | 49 CFR Part 382 |
| Tires, brakes and other maintenance | Vehicle-related factor on 218 of 5,837 trucks (3.7%); tires 61, brake system 29 | The carrier; a repair shop; a parts maker | 49 CFR 396.3 |
| Cargo and loading | Overloading or improper loading: 22 drivers (0.4%) | The driver; the carrier; whoever loaded the trailer | 49 CFR 392.9 |
| Other road users | Another vehicle in or entering the truck’s lane: 62.6% of trucks (Table 27, by addition) | Another motorist, shared by percentage | Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 33 |
Sources: FMCSA’s 2022 crash report (People Tables 29 and 31; Vehicles Tables 27 and 31); eCFR, § 392.3, § 392.6, § 392.9, § 396.3, read 16 October 2026.
The rule text matters here. Section 392.3 forbids a carrier to require or permit a driver’s operation of a truck while fatigue, illness or “any other cause” leaves the driver’s alertness “so impaired, or so likely to become impaired,” as to make driving unsafe, with a narrow emergency exception. Section 392.6 says no motor carrier shall “schedule a run” that would require speeds greater than the jurisdictions’ limits. Each cause has a sibling article: speed and stopping distance, hours-of-service limits, drug and alcohol testing, driver medical fitness, and who can be held liable. Whether a rule was violated in a given crash is a question for an attorney and the evidence.
How often do tires, brakes and cargo cause truck accidents?
Less often than driver behavior, but not rarely. FMCSA recorded a vehicle-related factor for 218 of 5,837 large trucks in 2022 fatal crashes (3.7 percent), with tires on 61 and the brake system on 29, and an improperly loaded vehicle for 22 drivers.
The federal duty is plain. Section 396.3(a) puts a systematic inspection, repair and maintenance duty on the motor carrier for every vehicle it controls, and parts must stay in safe operating condition. Cargo has its own rule in § 392.9(a): no operating, and no requiring or permitting, unless the load is properly distributed and adequately secured.
When a tire fails on a Houston freeway, the first question is whose tire it was and who inspected it; that is the subject of our article on truck tire blowouts, and the records that answer it are in our guide to key evidence in a truck claim. If a defective part rather than poor maintenance is suspected, defective vehicle product claims work differently from carrier claims.
What did FMCSA’s own causation study find?
In its Large Truck Crash Causation Study, a sample of 963 injury and fatal crashes from 2001 to 2003, FMCSA assigned the “critical reason” to the driver for 87 percent of the trucks that were coded, to the vehicle for 10 percent and to the environment for 3 percent. Fifty-five percent of trucks were assigned a critical reason at all.
Those figures are dated. FMCSA’s 2007 analysis brief notes that 78,000 of 141,000 estimated trucks were coded with a critical reason and that crash reconstruction experts “rarely conclude that crashes are the result of a single factor.” Its list of factors present in the trucks is more useful for claims than its headline split. Brake problems were present in 29 percent of trucks; traveling too fast for conditions in 23 percent; fatigue in 13 percent; “felt under work pressure from carrier” in 10 percent; tire problems in 6 percent; following too closely in 5 percent; and cargo shift in 4 percent. A factor’s presence is not its cause, so the brief also calculates relative risk: cargo shift scored 56.3 and following too closely 22.6, against 2.7 for brake problems.
If proved in a given case, work pressure from the carrier would point beyond the driver to dispatch and scheduling decisions. When those records show repeated tolerance of a known problem, the claim can reach further; see our article on proving gross negligence against a carrier.
How does the cause of the crash change your claim?
It decides whom the claim names, which insurance responds, what evidence must be kept, and how Texas divides blame. A crash with several causes can have several defendants, each answering for its own percentage of fault, and a defendant above 50 percent can be liable for the whole recoverable amount.
Under Texas’s proportionate-responsibility chapter the fact finder states a percentage for the claimant, each defendant, any settling person and each designated responsible third party (§ 33.003). Each liable defendant owes its own percentage (§ 33.013(a)), and one whose share is over 50 percent is also jointly and severally liable (§ 33.013(b)(1)). That is why a truck case turns on the evidence for each cause.
Each cause leaves a different trail, so the work starts with experts who reconstruct the crash and a preservation letter. The insurance behind each possible defendant is in our article on truck insurance, the first weeks of a claim in what a truck accident lawyer does, and how cases end on our truck settlement page.
What can you do to help pin down the cause?
Write down what you can while it is fresh: the carrier name and USDOT number painted on the truck, photographs of the vehicles and road, witness names, and your own account of what the truck was doing before impact. Get medical care first, and call a lawyer before the carrier’s files change.
The first-day steps are in a five-point checklist for the scene, and the missteps that hurt claims in the first days are in this list of mistakes to avoid. If the crash involved a truck on the shoulder or an emergency scene, Texas’s Move Over law may matter. The Houston-area roads where crashes cluster are in our guide to Houston’s most dangerous roads.
After a crash with a commercial truck, the 18-wheeler accident page explains the kinds of cases involved, and the contact page is open for a particular truck case.
Frequently asked questions
What are the leading causes of truck driver accidents?
FMCSA’s 2022 data for drivers of large trucks in fatal crashes record speeding most often (6.4 percent), then careless or inattentive driving (5.7 percent), distraction and impairment (4.8 percent each) and failure to yield (4.8 percent). A driver-related factor was recorded for 33.2 percent of drivers, so many crashes involve other causes.
What causes truck accidents that differ from other collisions?
Truck cases add federal rules for the carrier, such as maintenance duties in 49 CFR 396.3 and the bar on requiring a fatigued driver to drive in 49 CFR 392.3, plus vehicle and cargo factors that cars rarely raise. FMCSA recorded a vehicle-related factor for 3.7 percent of large trucks in 2022 fatal crashes.
Who is more likely to be killed in a fatal truck accident?
People outside the truck. FMCSA’s 2022 report says 82 percent of the people killed in fatal crashes involving large trucks were not occupants of the truck, and it counts 1,097 large-truck occupant fatalities that year, 83 percent of them drivers.
Does the police report name the cause of a truck crash?
Not as a finding. TxDOT says a commercial motor vehicle crash is one the officer flagged on the CR-3 report, and FMCSA states that its crash data do not include causation or fault. A report is a starting document, and its factors can be contested with other evidence.
Is bad weather a common cause of truck accidents?
It is recorded for a minority. FMCSA’s 2022 table lists “vision obscured” by weather, roadway design or vehicles for 205 drivers in fatal crashes (3.6 percent) and ice, water, snow, slush, sand, dirt, oil or wet leaves on the road for 80 (1.4 percent). A driver must still adapt to conditions.
About the authors
Sam A. Maida, Jr.
Owner and Managing Attorney
Sam A. Maida, Jr. has represented injured Texans in the greater Houston area since the firm opened in 1993.
State Bar of TexasAvvoMartindale-HubbellLawLinkThatCarHitMeLinkedIn
Bernard G. Johnson III
Litigation Managing Attorney
Bernard G. Johnson III is a board certified trial lawyer licensed in Texas since 1996 and a graduate of South Texas College of Law.