Over the past 20 years (1988 to 2008) there has been a 47 percent increase in registered large trucks and a 65 percent increase in miles traveled by large trucks. Over the same time period, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes has declined by 24 percent, and the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in fatal crashes has declined by more than 22 percent.
In 2008, the large truck fatal crash rate was a record low 1.64 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, compared with 1.85 fatal crashes per 100 million vehicle miles in 2007. This has decreased 64 percent from 4.58 in 1975, the first year the USDOT began keeping records.
Large truck crash-related injuries are at the lowest level in over a decade. In 2008, the large truck-involved injury crash rate fell to its lowest rate since USDOT began keeping statistics.
No, they do not. A 2006 Virginia Tech analysis of two studies conducted for the Department of Transportation found that 78 percent of crashes were caused by passenger car drivers.
AAA found in July 2002 that 80 percent of crashes were caused by car drivers. In fatal crashes involving a car and a large truck, 35 percent of the time the crash occured in one of the four blind spots surrounding large trucks.
In fatal crashes involving a rear-end collision between a large truck and a passenger vehicle, 77 percent of the time the passenger vehicle rear-ended the large truck.
In fatal crashes involving a head-on collision between a large truck and a passenger vehicle, 77 percent of the time the passenger vehicle rear-ended the large truck.
