Heavy Truck Safety-What We Know

The overall highway fatality rate has dropped almost continuously since 1925, from 20 to 2.5 per hundred million miles of travel in 1984. Still, the almost 44,000 fatalities in 1984 can, and will, be decreased. In 1983, 5,475 of the 42,584 highway fatalities were in accidents involving medium or heavy trucks. Only 18% of these were occupants of the trucks themselves. 82% were pedestrians or occupants of the vehicle. The greatest number of combination truck accidents take place on two-lane rural roads. Single-vehicle accidents are responsible for 70% of heavy truck occupant fatalities. Doubles and heavier trucks appear to be as safe as other heavy trucks. Rollover and ejection are responsible for the greatest number of truck occupant fatalities.