In 2020, 4,842 large trucks were involved in a fatal crash, a 4% decrease from 2019 but still a 33% increase since 2011. The involvement rate per 100 million large-truck miles traveled is down 5% from 2019, but up 18% since 2011. Large trucks are defined as any medium or heavy truck, not including buses and motor homes, with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds. Both commercial and non-commercial vehicles are included.
Large trucks accounted for:
- 9% of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes
- 4% of all registered vehicles
- 10% of total vehicle miles traveled
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Also in 2020, 107,000 large trucks were involved in crashes resulting in an injury, a 10% decrease from 2019. Since 2016, the number of trucks involved in fatal crashes has increased 5% and the involvement rate per 100 million large truck miles driven has remained steady at 35. Starting with the 2016 data year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began using a new Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) to estimate the number of nonfatal crashes. CRSS uses a different sampling design than previous estimates and is not directly comparable to earlier data years.
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*2016 – 2020 injury estimates are not comparable to previous years.
A total of 4,965 people died in large-truck crashes in 2020. The number of deaths decreased 1% from 2019 but is still up 31% since 2011. The majority of deaths in large-truck crashes are occupants of other vehicles (71%), followed by truck occupants (17%), and non-occupants, primarily pedestrians and bicyclists (12%).
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The number of injuries in large-truck crashes decreased 8% in 2020, to 147,000. As with deaths in large-truck crashes, most of the injuries occurred to occupants of other vehicles (68%), followed by truck occupants (30%) and non-occupants (2%).
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*2016 – 2019 injury estimates are not comparable to previous years.
The infographic summarizes several key facts related to fatal crashes involving large trucks in 2020. More than half of fatal large-truck crashes occurred on rural roads and about a quarter on interstates. Sixty-three percent of the crashes happened during daylight hours, and 5% happened in construction zones. The peak month for fatal truck crashes was October, and April had the fewest crashes.
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Sources:
National Safety Council analysis of NHTSA’s CRSS and Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data files.
National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2019, January). Large trucks: 2017 data. (Traffic Safety Facts. Report No. DOT HS 812 663). Washington, DC: NHTSA.