Trucking Accident Facts and Statistics

Did you know that about every 16 minutes, a person is killed or seriously injured in accidents involving 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers or semi-trucks? In fact, looking at some older statistics, 429,000 large trucks were involved in traffic crashes in the United States, of these:

• 4,793 were involved in fatal crashes
• 5,082 people died
• 131,000 were injured

In 2003, there were 58,512 total vehicle accidents involved in fatal crashes in the U.S. of which 4,669 involved large trucks. Large trucks are much more likely to be involved in a fatal multi-vehicle crash than are passenger vehicles. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety notes that in crashes involving large trucks and other vehicles, 98% of the fatalities occur to the people in passenger vehicles.

In Pennsylvania in 2001 there were 6,536 total crashes involving tractor-trailer trucks of which 154 were fatal. Texas in 2003 had 5040 fatal traffic accidents, of which 438 were fatal truck accidents. This number rose from 5039 total traffic accidents and 401 fatal truck accidents for the previous year. In Pennsylvania, there were 2233 fatal traffic accidents in 2003, of which 213 were fatal truck accidents up from the previous year which shows corresponding numbers of 2198 and 174. Florida had 4432 fatal traffic accidents in 2003, of which 343 involved trucks, which was an increase from the previous year of 4431 total traffic accidents but lower than the 351 fatal truck accidents in the same period. The highest numbers of fatal traffic accidents were in California with a staggering 5725 fatal auto accidents in 2003. However, at 332, the number of fatal truck accidents was not the highest among all states in the US.

Trucking revenues exceeded $610 billion last year and revenues are forecasted to nearly double by 2015.

The majority of fatal truck accidents occur in rural areas (68 percent) during the daytime (66 percent) and on weekdays (78 percent). Surprisingly, the majority of large truck crashes occur in good weather (71 percent), on dry roads (71 percent), during the daytime (75 percent), and on weekdays (88 percent). Nearly 27 percent of all large truck drivers involved in fatal truck accidents throughout the United States had at least one prior speeding conviction compared to 19 percent of the passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes. From 1992 to 2002, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes has increased by 10% due to driver fatigue, unsafe vehicle operation, large, unstable loads or defective equipment.

Defects contribute to the number of large truck accidents each year. Some of these defects include:

• Tires or wheels: 80 accidents
• Brake-related: 76 accidents
• Engine/Transmission: 52 accidents
• Steering Wheel: 13 accidents

Nearly 700 heavy truck drivers and passengers in truck cabs die each year. On the other hand, almost 3,700 persons in cars and other passenger vehicles die annually in collisions with heavy trucks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued warnings to groups who use 15-seat passenger vans about the dangers of fully loading these vans and then putting an inexperienced or fatigued driver behind the wheel. The NHTSA also notes that 15-passenger vans are large trucks and it is recommended that only people with experience driving large trucks should be behind the wheel. The FMCSA's Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) classifies a truck as "large" when its gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) exceeds 10,000 pounds.

Sixty-Four percent of fatal truck crashes involve tractor-trailer trucks that are pulling one trailer. Thirty-two percent of those crashes involved single-unit trucks (no trailer) and fewer than 4% of the those involved multi-trailer vehicles (more than one trailer).