There are two views regarding trends in the safety of large trucks in the United States. Some safety groups state that progress has been limited because fatalities in large truck crashes have declined little. The trucking industry has countered that more large trucks are driving more miles than ever before while fatalities per mile driven have dropped substantially. This study examined different measures of truck crash fatality risk to better understand how these two indicators - the public health burden of large truck crashes versus the risk per unit of travel - have changed during the past 25 years. Methods: The present study focused on vehicle occupants involved in large truck crashes. All fatal crashes involving a large truck were identified for 1975-99 using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Occupant fatalities per 100,000 population, per 10,000 licensed drivers, per 10,000 registered trucks, and per 100 million vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) were calculated for each year to determine trends in occupant deaths in large truck crashes. In 1999, large truck crashes resulted in 3,916 occupant deaths in passenger vehicles and 747 in large trucks. Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in large truck crashes per 100,000 population have increased somewhat since 1975 (1.28 in 1975, 1.44 in 1999). There have been appreciable declines in occupant deaths per truck VMT since 1975, but the percent reduction has been greater for occupants of large trucks (67 percent) than for occupants of passenger vehicles (43 percent). However, truck drivers are at elevated risk of dying relative to their numbers in the workforce. Large truck involvements in fatal crashes per truck VMT decreased by 68 percent for single-vehicle crashes and by 43 percent for multiple-vehicle crashes. In contrast, passenger vehicle involvements in fatal crashes (including those that did not involve a large truck) per passenger VMT have decreased less (33 percent for single-vehicle crashes, 23 percent for multiple-vehicle crashes). Both the safety groups and the trucking industry are correct in their assertions. Large truck involvement in fatal crashes has dropped substantially when measured per unit of travel, but the public health burden of large truck crashes, as measured by deaths per 100,000 population, has not improved over time because of the large increase in truck mileage. Countermeasures are needed to better protect both passenger vehicle occupants in collisions with large trucks and the occupants of large trucks. (Author/publisher)
Abstract