How safe are large trucks?
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.
