September 27, 2018
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently released a report detailing 2016 large truck and bus crash statistics. The FMCSA states that a gross vehicle weight greater than 10,000 pounds constitutes a large truck. About 11.5 million trucks were registered in the U.S. under this standard in 2016.
The report indicates that fatal large truck crashes are more likely to occur in rural areas and interstate highways. “[A]pproximately 61% of all fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred in rural areas, 27% occurred on interstate highways, and 15% fell into both categories by occurring on rural interstate highways.”
The most significant statistic in the 2016 report was the increase in injuries from large truck wrecks. In 2015, there were 83,000 large truck injury crashes resulting in 116,000 actual injuries. In contrast, in 2016, there were 104,000 large truck crashes resulting in 145,000 actual injuries. This is a 25% increase in actual injuries from 2015 to 2016.
Finally, the report points out that there was a 34% decreased in the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks between the years of 2005 and 2009. Unfortunately, between the years of 2009 and 2016, there was an increase of 28% in the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks. Just from the year 2015 to 2016, the number of fatal crashes increased by 6%.
The 2016 FMCSA report indicates that trucking crashes and fatal accidents involving large trucks are increasing by the year. People driving in rural areas and interstate highways are the most likely to be affected by this increase in fatal trucking wrecks.
