Truck accidents can happen for a variety of reasons. The driver may be intoxicated or on drugs. For accidents involving a long-haul truck driver, who often are traveling coast-to-coast, there is always a concern for fatigue, as truckers attempt to meet very tight delivery deadlines while dealing with bad weather, road construction and other traffic delays.

Their trucks may have suffered form poor maintained. The trucking company, in an effort to compete, could try to cut corners and save money by skipping the required maintenance inspections and repair schedules. This could send a truck out on the road with defectively maintained brakes, tires or steering systems.

And the driver could be violating federal regulations and using a phone for texting or a computer in the cab of their truck to help pass the time during long drives. Such behavior is banned because of the risk of an accident caused by a distracted truck driver.

It is unclear in the aftermath of a truck accident in Oklahoma what exactly went wrong to cause a truck to crash into a bus carrying a college softball team that left four young women from a dead.

The truck was northbound on Interstate 35, when the road began a gentle curve. The truck, however, never turned, and instead it continued driving straight, crossing the median and entering the southbound lane, where it struck the bus carrying the woman’s softball team.

It took the side off the bus, killing the four young women and injuring a dozen, two of whom remained in the hospital at the time of the news report. The truck continued for another 300 feet after hitting the bus before it came to a stop.

A statement from a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated that the brakes of the truck appeared to be functioning. The driver claimed something in the cab distracted him, but highway patrol investigators disagree with is claim.

From the path of the truck, it looks as if the driver was asleep, but investigators are examining the vehicle’s electronic recorder to determine whether the brakes were applied.

The trucking company had fewer than average safety violations, but sadly, as this deadly truck crash demonstrates, the margin for error is always slim.

CBSnews.com, “No sign truck driver in deadly Oklahoma crash into bus tried to brake: NTSB,” Associated Press, September 29, 2014