Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2007, January 2009

Trends

The tables in this chapter present crash statistics for large trucks and buses over time. Fatal crash statistics generally are available from 1975, the first year of FARS data, through 2007. In some cases, such as for roadway function class or alcohol involvement, data are available only from 1981 or 1982 through 2007. Nonfatal crash statistics are available from 1988, the first year of GES data, through 2007. The statistics shown in this chapter 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 (from 1987 to 2007) there has been a 58-percent increase in registered large trucks and a 70-percent increase in miles traveled by large trucks.

Over the same time period, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes has declined by 10 percent, and the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in fatal crashes has declined by 47 percent.

Over the past 10 years (from 1997 to 2007) there has been a 27-percent increase in registered large trucks and a 19-percent increase in miles traveled by large trucks.

From 1997 to 2007, the number of buses involved in fatal crashes declined by 6 percent, while the vehicle involvement rate for buses in fatal crashes declined by 8 percent.

From 1997 to 2007, on average, intercity buses accounted for 12 percent of all buses involved in fatal crashes, and school buses and transit buses accounted for 39 percent and 36 percent, respectively, of all buses involved in fatal crashes.

The number of large trucks involved in injury crashes has decreased by 21 percent over the past 10 years, and the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in injury crashes has declined by 33 percent.

The number of large trucks involved in property damage only crashes has decreased by 1 percent over the past 10 years, and the vehicle involvement rate for large trucks in property damage only crashes has declined by 17 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 44 percent over the past 10 years.