Vehicles on the Roadways - Public Hearing on Truck & Bus Safety, April 14-16, 1999

1997 Registered Vehicles

· In 1997, there were 37,280 fatal accidents on the Nation's highways, down from a high of 42,130 in 1988

· In that same year, there were more than 2 million injury-only accidents, and more than 4.5 million property damage-only accidents

· In 1997, there were 4,572 fatal accidents involving large trucks

· The number of fatal accidents involving large trucks has remained below 5,000 per year since 1982

· Between 1982 and 1997, the fatal accident rate for large trucks has fallen by nearly 41 percent

· In that same period, the overall fatal accident rate has fallen by the same percentage

· In 1997, 41,967 people lost their lives on the Nation's roadways

· 5,355 of the 41,967 highway fatalities in 1997 occurred in accidents involving large trucks

· In accidents involving large trucks, the occupants of the other vehicles involved have consistently suffered more fatal injuries

· The majority of the fatal accidents involving large trucks occur on roads other than interstates

· The same was true for all fatal highway accidents in 1997; only 4,516 of the 37,820 fatal accidents involving all highway vehicle types occurred on interstates

Combination unit trucks Single unit trucks

· In 1996, there were about 5.3 million single-unit trucks, and about 1.7 million combination unit trucks registered

· Combination unit trucks are involved in more fatal accidents than single unit trucks

· In 1997, 3,505 combination unit trucks were involved in fatal accidents, and 1,314 single unit trucks

Motorcoaches

· Motorcoaches account for a small proportion of all vehicles involved in fatal accidents, an average of .06%

· In general, there are fewer than 40 motorcoaches involved in fatal accidents each year

· In the last 16 years, 523 motorcoaches have been involved in fatal accidents

· Most fatalities in accidents involving motorcoaches are to people other than those in the motorcoaches

· Since 1982, 109 motorcoach occupants have been killed

Notes

For these analyses, large trucks are defined as trucks with a GVWR over 10,000 pounds, and can be categorized as single unit or combination unit trucks. Most "light trucks" are pickups, vans, or utility vehicles.

Sources

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. November 1998. Traffic Safety Facts 1997. Washington, DC.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Fatality Analysis Reporting System, years 1982 through 1997 [database].

Bureau of Transportation Statistics. National Transportation Statistics 1998. Washington, DC. (http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/; January 25, 1999.)