Truck-Crash Deaths Fall 4%

By Sean McNally, Senior Reporter

This story appears in the Aug. 18 Print Edition of Transport Topics.

The number of Americans killed in truck-related crashes fell 4.4% to 4,808 last year, the lowest total in 15 years, the Department of Transportation said last week.

In its Aug. 14 report, DOT also revised its fatality figures for 2006 — up slightly to 5,027 from a previously reported 4,995. The decline in 2007 marked the second year in a row the number of deaths related to truck crashes fell.

The number of truck-related fatalities was the third-lowest level since 1975 — only 1992’s total of 4,462 and 1975’s figure of 4,483 were lower.

While truck-related deaths dropped significantly, the number of truck occupants killed in crashes stayed nearly static, falling to 802 from 805 the year before — a decline of just 0.4%.

According to the report, 3,601 occupants of other vehicles were killed in truck crashes in 2007, down from the 3,797 reported in 2006. Also, the number of people not in any vehicle killed fell from 425 to 405.

Trucking industry and enforcement officials said the trend in fatalities was a sign that efforts to improve truck safety were working.

“While we are pleased that overall fatalities have decreased, we still have room to improve safe driving habits of truck drivers and passenger vehicle drivers,” American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said in a statement.

Graves pointed to increased enforcement efforts, as well as technological improvements, as reasons for the decline.

Stephen Campbell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said he was “heartened” by the decline.

“We’d like to see an even lower number,” said Rod Nofziger, director of government affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Officials said better enforcement, improved driving habits and increased use of safety technology were likely causes for the decline.

Dave Osiecki, ATA vice president of safety, security and operations, said slower vehicle speeds were a contributing factor in the decline.

“Average speed is coming down, both motorists and truck speeds, from a fuel conservation standpoint, and if ATA’s speed limiter and speed limit recommendations are accepted and ultimately implemented, I think we’ll see a continuation of this drop,” he said.

Recently, ATA has pressed DOT to require that all trucks have engines governed at 68 mph. The trucking federation also has proposed a national speed limit of 65 mph to reduce fuel consumption.

Osiecki also highlighted the proliferation of technologies such as collision avoidance and lane-departure warning systems as contributing to the decline in fatalities.

“I honestly think the safety technologies being adopted by the industry are helping to reduce the numbers,” he said. “When you compare the causes of crashes and the countermeasures that are most effective, safety technologies really are some of the most effective safety countermeasures.”

Campbell agreed, saying CVSA “believe[s] if [technology] is on more trucks, that it will do more to prevent serious crashes and injuries and fatalities than anything else.”

CVSA is one of several groups pushing for tax incentives for fleets that purchase specific types of safety technology.

Campbell also theorized that “our focus on other drivers around commercial vehicles is having some effect.”

Recently, enforcement agencies have been doing more to take action on unsafe driving by passenger vehicles around large trucks. Several states, including Washington, have programs in place to ticket cars for speeding or other aggressive driving around large trucks.

A 2006 report by the DOT found that driver behavior was a leading cause of crashes, and that in the majority of cases, when a car and truck collide, it is the car driver who initiated the crash (3-27-06, p. 1).

Nofziger said, “Mandated driver training requirements and programs [that target unsafe driving around trucks] will help” further reduce the number of crashes.

The overall number of fatalities on U.S. highways last year fell to 41,059, DOT said, the lowest number since 1994.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the overall decline was attributable to “safer vehicles [and] aggressive law enforcement.

The overall fatality rate fell to 1.37 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled in 2007, DOT said. In 2006, the rate was 1.42 per 100 million miles.

The mileage figure does not break out the number of miles traveled by truck; those specific figures are released later and are a key factor in determining the fatality rate.

DOT reported that overall vehicle miles traveled fell 0.6% to 2.996 trillion in 2007.

Osiecki said ATA suspects the 2007 truck miles traveled were unchanged from 2006, “which means the rate will go down slightly if we’re correct.”

An analysis of fatality and mileage data conducted by Transport Topics last year found the large truck fatality rate was 2.24 per 100 million truck miles traveled in 2006, an all-time low (12-17, p. 1).

Factoring in DOT’s recent revision, the 2006 fatality rate was 2.25 per 100 million.