Highway Deaths Involving Trucks Rise, Report Says

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ighway deaths involving large trucks rose for the second year in a row in 2004, increasing 3.7% and topping 5,000 for the first time since 2002, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Last year’s increase to 5,169 follows a 1% gain in 2003, when truck-related fatalities totaled 4,986, NHTSA said in its preliminary projection last week.

“The figures pretty much represent what’s going on out on the highways,” said American Trucking Associations spokesman Mike Russell. “They match the increase in vehicle miles traveled and the amount of truck tonnage being moved.”

Steve Keppler, director of policy and programs for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said the increase was “a concern for us [because] that’s the second year in a row that the absolute number of fatalities rose.”

For the full story, see the April 25 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.