Truck-Crash Deaths Drop, DOT Says

By Sean McNally, Senior Reporter
This story appears in the June 4 print edition of Transport Topics.

Fatalities in large-truck-involved crashes fell an estimated 3.7% in 2006 to 5,018, the lowest number of deaths since 2002, according to the Department of Transportation.
This was the second year in a row that truck-related deaths have declined, DOT said May 25. The drop brought the number of fatalities to its lowest point since 2002, when 4,939 people were killed in large truck crashes, according to DOT data. A total of 5,212 people were killed in truck crashes in 2005.
John Hill, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said he was “pleased to see” the decline. “While no death is acceptable, this decline is no doubt the result of the hard work being done by federal, state and local law enforcement to promote safety practices, along with the efforts of the truck and bus industry.”
DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will release final fatality figures later this year, which, combined with other DOT data on miles traveled, are used to calculate the fatal crash rate and the rate of fatalities.
A study last year by Transport Topics of fatalities and mileage traveled showed the fatality rate dropped in 2005, while the crash rate stayed flat (12-4, p. 1).
While data on miles traveled by large trucks are not available yet for last year, one trucking industry representative said he thought mileage had increased, suggesting that the fatality rate declined in 2006.
“Though it won’t be recognized by the naysayers and the people who have already made up their minds about trucks, we did that in spite of probably running 50 million or 100 million more miles than we have in previous years,” said David Owen, president of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies. “With truckers logging more and more miles every year, just staying even is a win.”
The overall number of highway fatalities dipped 0.3% to 43,300 last year, and the overall injury total dropped 6% to 2.5 million, according to the preliminary data from NHTSA.
The number of truck occupants killed in truck crashes slipped 0.6% to a projected total of 798, and the number of other vehicle occupants killed dropped to 3,791 from 3,944, a 3.9% decline.
Meanwhile, the number of people injured in large-truck crashes fell just 0.9% in 2006 to a projected 113,000 from 114,000 the previous year.
“It appears to be good news, though I would caution that these are preliminary numbers and they can, and have, changed in the past,” said Dave Osiecki, director of safety, security and operations for American Trucking Associations.
“Obviously, we’re happy about it, but I think it’s something that shouldn’t be surprising to us,” said Chris Burruss, president of the Truckload Carriers Association. “I think the industry has done a good job with safety; I just wish we had more recognition by the outside, mainstream media.”
Burruss said it was noteworthy that “in a time when the highways are becoming more and more congested, we’re still able to improve our safety record.”
Trucking industry officials attributed the decline to increased use of safety technology, a greater focus on driver behavior and more targeted enforcement.
Steve Keppler, director of policy and programs for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said the drop coincides with an increase in roadside enforcement activity.
“We’ve been beefing it up a little more,” Keppler said, “and there’s been a little more focus on the driver. Looking broadly at it, the out-of-service rate on drivers is up a little bit, and it seems to indicate that that’s having an effect. . . . There seems to be a correlation there.”
CVSA holds its annual Roadcheck June 5-7, when members of the law enforcement group will perform even more inspections than usual.
Osiecki credited better enforcement, along with increased use of technology, as possible reasons for the drop.
“In some ways, the industry is adopting more active safety technologies to prevent crashes, and I believe the industry is doing a better job of identifying unsafe driving behavior and working to change it,” he said.
“I also think that, from an oversight perspective, the government is slowly starting to focus their resources on the primary causes of crashes — meaning a greater driver focus, both on commercial and noncommercial drivers.”
Several safety-advocacy groups, including Public Citizen and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, did not respond to requests for comment by TT.
“It’s customary for some organizations to be critical and similarly customary for them not to recognize industry or government efforts when the numbers seem to be going in the right direction,” Osiecki said.