Yes, drivers of cars cause many traffic collisions. But who causes the worst? And who has the most responsibility for avoiding such catastrophes? Big rig, diesel truck, tractor trailer, semi truck or 18 wheeler drivers, that’s who. Their enormous rigs take longer to stop, and when they crash they are far more destructive.

Also, too many of their drivers fall asleep at the wheel.

It’s an occupational hazard, since diesel truck drivers who haul large loads across the country often drive for long, dull hours, including the middle of the night. But it’s a crucial distinction, especially in view of two tragedies this week in Houston and Kentucky.

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Each day you hear or read it in news reports: A driver “lost control” of a vehicle, causing a deadly car accident crash. But apart from slick roads and sudden mechanical malfunctions, just how did the driver “lose” control? Or, did the driver not truly lose control, but rather surrender it — by driving too fast, driving while drunk,  driving while cell calling or texting or otherwise failing to pay proper attention to the road?

The resulting wreckage might be blamed on “lost control” in a news report, but a wreck’s cause, in many cases, is that a driver gave up — rather than “lost” — proper control of his or her vehicle by willfully indulging in unsafe behavior.

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It’s bad enough that 18 wheelers, semi trucks, big rigs, diesel trucks and tractor trailers are slaughtering thousands of innocents on America’s roads and highways. Now we learn that our beef with the trucking business may include beefy drivers.

Sleep scientists at Harvard University have discovered a strong link between overweight drivers and apnea sleep, a sleep disorder which puts drivers at high risk of driving while asleep at the wheel. As MSNBC reports, at Harvard they’re calling for mandatory testing of obese drivers, which they believe will help reduce the 5,200 deaths and 100,000 injuries yearly in this country’s large truck accidents.

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Large passenger buses are inherently dangerous. Big rigs, diesel trucks, semi trucks, 18 wheeler trucks or tractor trailers  are even more so. Combined, how dangerous are they? You do the math.

The tragic numbers after a recent bus-truck crash in northeast Mexico were 11 bus passengers killed — including 10 United States and Canadian tourists — and 15 injured when a tractor trailer went out of control and swerved into oncoming traffic, smashing the bus, Mexican authorities said.

As usual with such incidents, the diesel truck driver survived with only injuries. The bus driver is dead, along with 10 passengers. Those who were injured reportedly are in “grave” condition.

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