NHTSA Preliminary Estimates Report: Truck-Related Fatalities Up 3%
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Fatalities in crashes involving at least one large truck increased by 3% in 2018 from 2017, despite a decrease of about 1% for all vehicles combined over the same period, according to a preliminary report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The report does not break down the number of truck-involved fatalities.
NHTSA’s preliminary data show that vehicle miles traveled in 2018 increased by about 12.2 billion miles, or about 0.4%. A statistical projection of traffic fatalities for 2018 shows that 36,750 people died in motor vehicle crashes, a decrease of about 1% compared with the 37,133 fatalities reported in 2017. The fatality rate for 2018 was 1.14 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from 1.16 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2017.
The estimates are created by inflating current 2018 cases contained in NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
The fatality counts for 2017 and 2018 and the ensuing percentage change from 2017 to 2018 will be revised as the final file for 2017 and the annual reporting file for 2018 become available later this year, NHTSA said.
