People

This chapter contains information on drivers of large trucks in fatal, injury, and property damage only crashes and on people killed or injured in large truck crashes. Some statistics are also listed for passenger vehicle drivers, to provide comparisons. It is important to note that the number of large truck drivers in crashes is not exactly equal to the number of large trucks in crashes, because no driver information is provided for some crashes. Below is a summary of some of the information presented:

• Fatalities in crashes involving large trucks made up 11 percent of all fatalities in motor vehicle crashes in 2002.
• Injuries in large truck crashes made up 4 percent of all injuries in motor vehicle crashes in 2002.
• Of the 4,508 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes, 278 (about 6 percent) were 25 years of age or younger, and 118 (about 3 percent) were 66 years of age or older. In comparison, 14,688 (30 percent) of the 48,399 drivers of passenger vehicles in fatal crashes were 25 years of age or younger, and 2,743 (about 6 percent) were 66 years of age or older.
• About 3 percent of all the drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes were female, as compared with 30 percent of all drivers of passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes.
• One or more driver-related factors were recorded for 73 percent of the drivers of large trucks involved in single-vehicle fatal crashes but for only 31 percent of the drivers of large trucks involved in multiple-vehicle fatal crashes.
• Of the 4,508 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes, 759 (17 percent) were not wearing a safety belt at the time of the crash; of those, 21 percent were completely or partially ejected from the vehicle.