From 2009 to 2018, an annual average of 80 road deaths were attributable to crashes with trucks and 67 road deaths to crashes with delivery vans. Casualty numbers are higher among crash opponents than among occupants of trucks or delivery vans. The fatality rate among crash opponents is higher when they crash into a truck or delivery van than when they crash into a car. The fatality rate among occupants of a truck or delivery van, however, is lower than among car occupants. Among the occupants of trucks or delivery vans, most fatalities occurred on provincial road and on national roads. In crashes with trucks, most fatalities among crash opponents occurred on provincial roads, while in crashes with delivery vans most fatalities occurred on 50km/h roads. For trucks, head-on crashes without overtaking manoeuvres are the most common crashes. For delivery vans, side impact crashes at intersections or head-on crashes without overtaking manoeuvres are most common. It is remarkable that rear-end collisions with a stationary vehicle and right side impact collisions are relatively more common for trucks and delivery vans (e.g. blind spot crashes) than for cars. Important factors contributing to crashes with trucks and delivery vans are the driver’s often young age, fatigue, distraction and task load, and burst tyres or unbalanced/too heavy loading of the vehicle, and insufficient awareness of truck characteristics among other road users. Research shows that drivers of transport companies with a proper safety culture may drive more safely. Measures to prevent crashes with trucks or delivery vans lie within the domain of vehicle measures (e.g. implementing blind spot detection and alert systems), legislation and enforcement (e.g. concerning fatigue and distraction), logistics (such as separating heavy goods vehicles and lighter vehicles/pedestrians) and information and education campaigns (paying attention to dealing with burst tyres during basic driver training and refresher training).
Trucks and delivery vans
Updated

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SWOV (2020). Trucks and delivery vans. SWOV fact sheet, April 2020. SWOV, The Hague.
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