Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2007, January 2009

Crashes

This chapter contains information on the circumstances of large truck crashes. Below is a summary of some of the information in this section:

Of the 394,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks in 2007, 4,190 (1 percent) resulted in at least one fatality, and 72,000 (18 percent) resulted in at least one nonfatal injury.

Single-vehicle crashes made up 20 percent of all fatal crashes, 15 percent of all injury crashes, and 31 percent of all property damage only crashes involving large trucks.

Just over three-fifths (62 percent) of all fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred on rural roads, and one-fourth (25 percent) occurred on Interstate highways.

Thirty-four percent of all fatal crashes and 21 percent of all property damage only crashes involving large trucks occurred at night.

The vast majority of fatal crashes (84 percent) and of nonfatal crashes (87 percent) involving large trucks occurred on weekdays (Monday through Friday).

Collision with a vehicle in transport was the first harmful event in 75 percent of fatal crashes involving large trucks.

Rollover was the first harmful event in only 5 percent of all fatal crashes involving large trucks and in only 3 percent of all nonfatal crashes involving large trucks.