2001 Large Truck Crash Stats at-a-Glance

* In 2001, there were 5,082 people killed and 131,000 injured in collisions involving a large truck.  Fatalities from large truck crashes have declined each year since 1997, resulting in a 6 percent decrease - from 5,398 in 1997 to 5,082 in 2001.

* Of the 409,000 police-reported crashes involving a large truck in 2001, 4,431 resulted in at least one person being killed and another 86,000 resulted in at least one person being injured.  The 4,431 fatal crashes represent the fewest number of fatal crashes involving a large truck since 1996.

* In 2001, large truck crashes accounted for 12 percent of people killed and 4 percent of people injured in all motor vehicle crashes.  In 2001, 42,116 people were killed and another 3,033,000 injured on our Nation's highways.  Since 1998, fatalities from all motor vehicle crashes have increased by 1 percent.  

* Only 1 percent of large truck drivers in fatal crashes were intoxicated at or above the blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.08 grams per deciliter, compared to 23 percent of car and light truck drivers and 29 percent of motorcycle drivers.  The percentage of large truck drivers intoxicated at or above this level dropped from 1.5 percent in 2000 to 1.1 percent in 2001.  (Note: Federal law prohibits driving a large truck with a 0.02 BAC level or higher.)

* About 5 percent of fatal crashes and 4 percent of nonfatal crashes involving large trucks occurred in a construction/maintenance work zone.  However, 22 percent of all fatal crashes that occurred in a work zone involved a large truck.

* Eighty-two percent of all fatal truck crashes involved at least one other vehicle, usually a passenger vehicle.

* Only 4 percent of trucks involved in fatal crashes and 2 percent of trucks involved in nonfatal crashes were carrying hazardous materials (HM).  HM was released from the cargo compartment 16 percent of the time in those crashes.

* The majority of large truck crashes occurred in good weather (86 percent), on dry roads (83 percent), during the daytime (69 percent), and on weekdays (85 percent).

* The 10 States with the most fatalities from large truck crashes in 2001 were (in descending order): Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama and Missouri.  [Eight of these States rank among the top 11 States in population.  Only Alabama (23rd) and Missouri (17th) do not.]

Note:  Statistics describing fatal crashes and fatalities have been derived from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and statistics describing injury crashes, property-damage-only crashes, and nonfatal injuries have been derived from NHTSA's General Estimates System (GES).  FARS numbers are actual counts of fatalities or fatal crashes, whereas GES numbers are estimates of counts of crashes and injuries and are subject to sampling and nonsampling errors. 
Prepared by: FMCSA Analysis Division, October 16, 2002