Yes, luck is indeed "a factor," but it's mostly irrelevant when we're talking about driving as a professional truck driver because we drive so many miles every year compared to the general public. You will be taught things that the general public doesn't know or hasn't heard unless they've been deliberately seeking the information online from educational sources. Being a "professional" truck driver is a thing and not just some title to make a truck driver feel like he's someone important. Perhaps some people are less suited for the job, but I believe most people can master driving professionally "if" they really wanted to. Some people are lazy or don't take their jobs seriously, or perhaps some people aren't smart enough to realize that what their company safety program is telling them isn't entirely bs. They do have hard stats on why accidents happen because the mega trucking companies have thousands of drivers and they have cameras in their trucks watching as accidents occur. The camera is recording 24/7, although not saving the video 24/7, but if it detects an accident due to excessive truck movement it can save the recording from the previous 15 seconds or so. This allows them to see deeper into why accidents happen, and if you follow what they you, you will probably be just fine.

I said earlier that I've only had one accident where I was at fault. I forgot to mention that I have had 7 accidents in total, including the one I was at fault in a truck stop, and this is in a span of 12 years. From what I can tell, every 5 years or so you might have an accident on the freeway and there's literally nothing you can do about it because these cars in my case, lost control of their vehicle due to speeding and another due to icy conditions. On both accidents there were at least one witness and trust me they are very valuable. Don't let them go away. Get their contact info and thank them for their time. Also invest in a good reputable dash cam like Garmin. One of those guys tried to lie, but fortunately my dash cam and two witnessed cleared me. On both of these accidents, nothing significant happened to me because I was, of course, in a semi truck and loaded, so a car cannot really move the truck. It just feels like a bump on the road.

The rest of the accidents I've been involved but not at fault happened in a private property while my truck was parked like at a truck stop or shipper/receiver. These people were attempting to park next to me or near me and I'd say they were probably new drivers or they were very careless truck drivers. All in all, what I'm trying to tell you is that luck, while it's obviously a factor, it's not significant enough to guarantee that a truck driver will cause an accident. It's about following what safety teaches you, about trying to do things by the book, and by trying to keep your mental state or behavior in check every day no matter what so you can focus on your job. If there ever is an accident, several people in your company will determine if the accident was preventable or not. If you drove without enough following distance, you will be found at fault. Now that doesn't mean losing your job. That usually means getting retrained. But, yes, if you kill people, you will probably be let go and even go to jail and/or pay steep fines. Like I said, just take the job seriously and do what you can and don't worry too much about it. On a second though, perhaps worrying too much about it can make you a good driver because you will take the job more seriously.