Truck Deaths Plunge 20% to Record Low

This story appears in the Sept. 13 print edition of Transport Topics.

WASHINGTON — Highway crash deaths involving large trucks plummeted 20% in 2009 to 3,380, the third straight year it has set a record low, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The decline was the fourth in four years and represented the largest year-to-year drop since such records have been kept. And while overall highway fatalities involving all vehicles also dropped last year, the number involving heavy trucks fell much more sharply.

Federal officials said Sept. 9 that the decline related in part to industry efforts to improve safety, increase enforcement activities and heighten awareness by all drivers on the roads.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a press conference that he’s been impressed by the focus trucking industry executives and drivers have put on safety, citing his recent trip to American Trucking Associations’ National Truck Driving Championships in Columbus, Ohio.

“I was so struck by every owner that I met there and every driver that I met — and I talked to a number of them — and safety really is their No. 1 priority,” LaHood said.

“I don’t think the driving public who drive on these interstates and other highways in America realizes that these truckers are well-trained and they do take safety as their top priority,” LaHood said.

ATA President Bill Graves said the improved fatality numbers were the result of industry vigilance.

“These latest figures illustrate the trucking industry’s deep commitment to improving highway safety,” Graves said in a statement. “ATA will continue to advance its progressive safety agenda in an effort to further this outstanding trend.”

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said the 20% decline in truck-related deaths and the 26% drop in truck driver and passenger fatalities resulted from efforts by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, as well as the transportation department’s other programs to improve enforcement and awareness of safety issues, and from the slow economy.

FMCSA has “done a fantastic job in their inspection process out on the roads, getting out and doing behavioral programs,” Strickland said, “and I know they have a couple of rulemakings that are under way which are going to be very significant for the long-term safety of trucks.” He added that NHTSA’s work with drunken driving, seat-belt use and distracted driving has benefits “for both the non-professional and the professional driver.”

FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said the decline “shows that ongoing enforcement efforts and our partnerships with state and local law enforcement are making a difference.”

FMCSA “will not rest until there are zero commercial truck-related fatalities on our roads. We are committed to using every resource available to strengthen commercial truck safety and save lives,” she said.

The agency is close to releasing new proposals on driver hours-of-service, distracted driving and the use of electronic onboard recorders.

According to NHTSA’s figures, the number of truck-crash-related fatalities dropped by 865 in 2009 from a revised total of 4,245 the year before. Truck occupant deaths — fatalities of drivers or passengers — fell by 179 to 503.

Injuries from large truck crashes also were down significantly, falling 26% to 17,000 from the 23,000 reported in 2008.

Overall fatalities from all vehicle crashes fell 9.7% in 2009 to 33,808, the lowest level since DOT began tracking highway deaths in 1950.

LaHood and Strickland both said the fatality declines were even more significant because, despite the recession, overall miles traveled increased slightly. The downtrend led to the lowest rate on record for all highway fatalities, 1.13 for every 100 million miles traveled.

The fatality rate for trucks is not available because the number of truck miles traveled has yet to be calculated. ATA’s truck tonnage index consistently showed lower monthly figures in 2009, until December, when it posted a positive comparison (click here for previous story).

ATA’s Graves cited the federal hours-of-service rules as another reason for the decline.

“Greater rest opportunities for drivers under the 2005 hours-of-service rules and a more circadian-friendly approach to a driver’s work-rest cycle have helped truck drivers achieve these exceptional results,” Graves said.

Stephen Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Alliance, said he thought the declines are the result of “a major effort to raise awareness about highway safety.”

That effort, he said, is in part the result of LaHood’s push on distracted driving, which has included national summits to discuss the topic, rules barring commercial drivers from texting and other educational efforts.

“Secretary LaHood has really been upfront on the distracted driving issue, and that’s really focused the country’s attention on driver behavior and safety,” Keppler said.

Beyond that, he said that state law enforcement agencies have continued their efforts, despite the economy, and the “industry has really focused on improving the performance of their drivers.”