Truck Crash Statistics

The media and safety advocates groups would like to you believe that big trucks are the biggest menace or danger on the road; however, the actual statistics speak for themselves.

According to Ask the Trucker and the DOT:

*There are more than 15 million trucks on the road

*There are more than 500,000 trucking companies in the U.S.

*Truckers drive 432.9 billion miles a year

*$37.4 billion from trucking goes back into America’s roads

*There are more than 5,505,000 vehicle accidents in 2010, 30,797 were fatal

*Less than 9% of all highway deaths involved large trucks

*500,000 accidents involved trucks

*More than 75% , of those 500,000 wrecks were the fault of the non-truck driver

*4% of the 9% of accidents involving large trucks were attributed to driver fatigue

*61% of all fatal accidents, were single vehicle accidents

*32% of all fatal crashes involved alcohol

*More than 95% of crashes were cars and light trucks

Elderly drivers are more of a hazard on the road:

*There are more than 20 million drivers on the road who are 70-years-old or older.

Fatality rates for drivers begin to climb after age 65, according to a recent study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, based on data from 1999-2004. From ages 75 to 84, the rate of about three deaths per 100 million miles driven is equal to the death rate of teenage drivers. For drivers 85 and older, the fatality rate skyrockets to nearly four times higher than that for teens.

The numbers are particularly daunting at a time when the U.S. Census Bureau projects there will be 9.6 million people 85 and older by 2030, up 73% from today. Road safety analysts predict that by 2030, when all baby boomers are at least 65, they will be responsible for 25% of all fatal crashes. In 2005, 11% of fatal crashes involved drivers that old.

Fatigue:

*According to the FMCSA, truck driver fatigue was a factor in just 1.4% of all fatal truck accidents last year.  *Truck driver fatigue is being correlated with the need for changing the current HOS, yet the FMCSA has ranked truck driver fatigue low on its list of causes for fatal truck accidents. The agency placed fatigued driving at number seven on the list.

Driving next to someone who is texting, using a cell phone or who is distracted is more dangerous:

*About 6,000 deaths and a half a million injuries are caused by distracted drivers every year.

*While teenagers are texting, they spend about 10 percent of the time outside the driving lane they’re supposed to be in.

*Talking on a cell phone while driving can make a young driver’s reaction time as slow as that of a 70-year-old.

*Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds. That is enough time to travel the length of a football field.

Truckers spend more time on the road, therefor they have a higher statistical likelihood of getting into an accident; however, if you compared mile-for-mile, truck drivers are some of the safest drivers on the road.