| Truck
Accident Quick Facts
The
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports
that between the years 1990 and 2001 there were approximately
52,278 fatal crashes involving large trucks. For purposes of
these statistics, a large truck was defined as a truck with
a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds.
These numbers are further broken down by year and state.
For instance, in the State of Louisiana, there were 111 fatal
truck crashes in the year 2001. In the State of Texas there
were 421 fatal truck crashes in the year 2001. Florida had
303 fatal crashes in 2001 and California had 334.
In the year 2000, the FMCSA reported that there were 140,000
large truck injuries in this country. That translates to 68
injuries per 100 million truck vehicle miles traveled.
Recent statistics have demonstrated that major arterial roadways
were the scenes of the greatest proportion of fatal truck
crashes. However, rural arterial highways had the highest
frequencies of crashes for all categories of trucks.
Most fatal crashes of trucks involve trucks that are pulling
one trailer. A recent survey showed that 64% of fatal truck
crashes had one trailer. 32 % of fatal truck crashes involved
single-unit trucks, that is trucks without trailers, and fewer
than 4% of the fatal truck crashes involved multi-trailer
vehicles.
Statistics also have shown that the front of the truck is
the initial impact area in nearly 62% of all fatal truck crashes
and 28% of non fatal truck crashes. The rear of the truck
is the location of initial impact in about 16% of both fatal
and non fatal collisions.
In the year 2001, there were approximately 2,627,605 roadside
inspections of large trucks. In 2002 the number of roadside
inspections increased to 2,808,062.
In 1997, the International Highway Transportation Safety
(IHTS) conducted a week of random truck inspections to determine
the most frequently cited inspection violations of commercial
trucking vehicles. That study demonstrated that 9,537 violations
were issued for brakes out of adjustment during the week.
There were 5,722 log book violations for the driver's record
of hours of service operating the truck. 3,765 violations
were found for tires with inadequate treads and 3,658 violations
for failure to comply with general inspection, maintenance
and repair. These statistics are staggering considering that
the random inspections covered only a one week period.
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