| |
|
During 1996 there were 4,740 large trucks
involved in fatal crashes in the United States.
This is a six percent increase from the 4,472
large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 1995,
but very close to the 1994 number of 4,644. There
were an estimated 94,000 trucks involved in
injury crashes, a 13 percent increase from 1995,
and an estimated 296,000 involved in
property-damage-only crashes, up two percent from
1995. |
| |
|
Fifty-nine percent of the trucks and buses
involved in 1996 fatal crashes, and slightly less
than 50 percent involved in non-fatal crashes
were tractors pulling single semi-trailers. About
three-quarters of the trucks had gross vehicle
weight ratings of more than 26,000 pounds. Only
five percent were transporting hazardous
materials. |
|
|
|
Of truck drivers involved in fatal crashes eight
percent were under 26 years old, and only two
percent were over 65. By contrast 24 percent of
passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal
crashes with trucks were under 26, and 16 percent
were over 65 years old. |
|
|
|
Among truck drivers involved in fatal crashes
only one percent had a blood alcohol content of
0.10 grams per deciliter or greater, the level
for intoxication in most States. By contrast 20
percent of passenger vehicle drivers in fatal
crashes had a 0.10 alcohol level or greater. |
|
|
|
Driver-related crash factors were recorded for
only 29 percent of truck drivers involved in
fatal crashes with other vehicles. However,
driver-related crash factors were recorded for 67
percent of the passenger vehicle drivers involved
in fatal crashes with trucks. |
|
|
|
Driver-related crash factors were recorded for 67
percent of truck drivers where the truck was the
only vehicle involved in the fatal crash. An even
higher 84 percent of passenger vehicle drivers
involved in single vehicle fatal crashes were
coded for at least one driver-related factor. |
|
|
| A
large majority of 1996 fatal and non-fatal truck
crashes occurred in good weather, during the day,
and on weekdays. |
|
|
|
The first harmful event in three-fourths of fatal
truck crashes was the collision of the truck with
another moving vehicle. About sixty percent of
the first crash events for trucks involved in
non-fatal crashes was a collision with another
vehicle in transport. |
|
|
|
The Office of Motor Carriers’ Motor Carrier
Management Information System (MCMIS) Crash File
includes 95,027 trucks and buses that were
involved in 1995 crashes, and 101,102 for 1996,
as of August 22, 1997. Of these, most were
operated by interstate carriers and have been
matched with carriers in the MCMIS Carrier
Profile file. |
|
|
|
None of the available data addresses crash
causation or fault. Thus, the data can only be
suggestive as to the reasons for truck and bus
crashes. |
A&I Home
