ATA: Decline in truck-involved fatalities shows ‘efforts paying off’

Arlington, VA – Fatalities involving trucks continue to decline in the United States despite a sharp increase in the number of miles traveled by commercial motor vehicles, according to an analysis from the American Trucking Associations.

Researchers analyzed highway fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and miles traveled data from the Federal Highway Administration.

Key findings from ATA’s analysis include:

• NHTSA reported 3,903 truck-involved fatalities in 2014, down from 61 fatalities one year earlier.
• The truck-involved fatality rate decreased 4.76 percent during the past two years and 40.6 percent during the past decade.
• From 2013 to 2014, the number of miles traveled by large trucks increased to 279 billion. The truck-involved fatality rate fell to 1.40 per 100 million miles traveled.

Truck-involved fatalities included crashes in which CMV drivers were not at fault, ATA stated. Previous studies have indicated that less than one-third of deadly crashes involving trucks were initiated by CMV drivers.

NHTSA officials did not respond to a request from Safety+Health for comment on ATA’s findings.

“Our industry has worked hard, and invested in technology and training to improve highway safety not just for our drivers, but for all motorists,” ATA Executive Vice President for National Advocacy Dave Osiecki said in a press release. “And while there is more work to do, it is gratifying to see those efforts paying off in safer roads for all of us.”