Report Shows Circumstances Leading to Large Truck Crashes

The number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes decreased 21 percent from 2008 to 2009 (the most recent year for which data is available). According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts: Early Release, this means 3,215 large trucks were involved in fatal crashes in 2009. An additional 53,000 were involved in crashes that resulted in injury and 239,000 large trucks were involved in crashes that caused only property damage.

The largest concern for drivers in the trucking industry is collision with vehicles in transport. This was recorded as the most harmful event for large trucks, resulting in 75 percent of all fatal crashes.  However, single-vehicles crashes also contribute to the circumstances of many accidents, including 20 percent of all fatal crashes, 16 percent of all injury crashes, and 35 percent of all large truck crashes resulting only in property damage.

Despite the work left to be done to improve the safety of large truck driving, significant improvements were made in the previous decade. From 1999 to 2009, the number of large trucks involved in both fatal crashes and those resulting only in property damage declined 35 percent each, while those involved in crashes that caused injury decreased by 48 percent.

The full Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts: Early Release is currently available online. The final 2009 Large Truck Crash Causation Study is expected to be released sometime in 2011.

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