Trends

The tables in this section present large truck crash statistics taken over time. Fatal crash statistics range from 1975 (the first year of FARS) through 2003; however, some tables, such as the roadway function class and alcohol tables, go back only as far as the data allow (1981 and 1982, respectively). Nonfatal crash statistics date back to 1988, the beginning of GES. Statistics given in this section represent crashes, vehicles, drivers, fatalities, and injuries in crashes. Below is a summary of some of the trend information in this section:

• Over the past 20 years (1983 to 2003) there has been a 44-percent increase in registered large trucks and an 86-percent increase in large truck miles traveled.
• Over the same time period, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes each year has declined by 4 percent, and the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in fatal crashes has declined by 51 percent.
• Over the past 10 years (from 1993 to 2003) there has been a 30-percent increase in registered large trucks and a 35-percent increase in miles traveled by large trucks.
• The number of large trucks involved in injury crashes each year has decreased by 8 percent over the past 10 years, and the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in injury crashes has declined by 32 percent.
• The number of large trucks involved in property damage only crashes has increased by 23 percent over the past 10 years, but the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in property damage only crashes has declined by 9 percent.
• Alcohol involvement (blood alcohol concentration of 0.01 gram per deciliter [g/dl] or more) for large truck drivers in fatal crashes has declined by 77 percent since 1982, the first year of FARS data for alcohol involvement in fatal crashes.