Safety Issues Regarding Large Trucks

Here are some interesting facts from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

 Do large trucks have high crash rates?

On average, drivers of large trucks travel many more miles than passenger vehicle drivers, and a high proportion of those miles are on interstates, which are the safest roads. In 2008, large trucks accounted for 4 percent of registered vehicles and 8 percent of miles traveled.¹ Per unit of travel, large trucks are involved in more fatal crashes than passenger vehicles — 1.7 crashes per 100 million miles traveled in 2008 for large trucks, compared with compared with 1.5 for passenger vehicles. Large trucks have a much lower rate per mile traveled of crashes resulting in nonfatal injuries or property damage only compared with passenger cars and light trucks.

Who dies in crashes involving large trucks?

In 2009, 3,163 people died in crashes involving large trucks. Fourteen percent of these deaths were truck occupants, 70 percent were passenger vehicle occupants, and 14 percent were pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists. In fatal two-vehicle crashes involving a passenger vehicle and a large truck, 98 percent of the deaths were the occupants in the passenger vehicles. Large trucks were involved in 9 percent of all motor vehicle crash deaths and 20 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in multiple-vehicle crashes.

¹Federal Highway Administration. 2010. Highway statistics, 2008. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.