The number of injuries in U.S. truck related accidents declined by 18% in 2009, according to new statistics compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In 2009, 74,000 people were injured in crashes involving large trucks, down from 90,000 in 2008, according to NHTSA, which is part of the Department of Transportation.
Fatalities declined by 20% over the same period to a historic low, from 4,245 in 2008 to 3,380 in 2009, NHTSA said recently.
Of the people injured in 2009 crashes involving large trucks, those weighing 10,000 or more pounds, 76% were occupants of another vehicle, 2% were non occupants and 22% were occupants of a large truck.
Of the 74,000 people injured in truck accidents in 2009, 17,000 were truck occupants, 56,000 were in other vehicles and 1,000 were pedestrians or cyclists.
In 2008, 26% of the injuries involved heavy truck occupants, while 71 percent were occupants of another vehicle and 3 percent were non occupants.
In 2009, large trucks accounted for 3 percent of all vehicles involved in injury and property-damage-only crashes, NHTSA said.
