The latest large truck crash fatality numbers from NHTSA are unfortunate and sobering. In 2022, there were 5,936 people killed in traffic crashes involving large trucks, up 2 percent from 2021. Large trucks accounted for only five percent of registered vehicles, and ten percent of all vehicle miles traveled but accounted for 10 percent of all vehicles involved in fatal traffic crashes. The 2022 fatality number is 61 percent higher than the low point of 3,686 fatalities in 2010. While mileage has increased over this time, the fatality rate has increased, up 37 percent since 2010. What do we think is going on, and where should government the government focus its efforts to drive these numbers down?
We know what is contributing to this rise in fatalities: driver behavior. It is both truck driver and car driver behavior. A whopping 81 percent of large trucks in fatal traffic crashes in 2022 were in multi-vehicle crashes. About 70 percent of these multi vehicle crashes are caused by car drivers.
When we peer into the federal approach to reducing these crashes, we see an interesting story. The two principal enforcement levers that FMCSA has at its disposal are Compliance Investigations and Roadside Inspections. We note below the top 10 most often cited violations from each of these programs over the last four years.
Unfortunately, the enforcement data shows us that driver behavior has not traditionally been enforcement’s primary focus. When we view this in context with research looking at what violations lead to crashes, specifically ATRI’s Crash Predictor Study, we see a different story.
The activity levels from these compliance investigations and roadside enforcement don’t match with what actions are contributing to large truck fatal crashes. While this information is not an apples-to-apples comparison, it highlights the disconnect between the symptoms of the problem, and some actions or lack of actions government is taking to address them. This is a strategic MISS.
While Compliance Investigations and Roadside Inspections are valuable programs and should continue, we need to look at additional approaches and strategies to target the symptoms. We also need to measure the efficacy of these strategies to know what is working and what is not. For example, since more than 80 percent of large truck fatal crashes are multi-vehicle crashes, and 70 percent of these are caused by the car drivers, what specific actions are FMCSA, NHTSA, FHWA and the states doing to address the problem and its symptoms? It would be interesting to know the answer to this question.
Motor carriers know drivers are the most important factor in their safety program which is why they spend so much time and effort providing them with tools and resources to make them successful. It’s time the government did so too by focusing much more on the vehicles driving around trucks and rolling out high visibility education and enforcement campaigns that dole out real penalties. As they deploy technologies focused on motor carrier safety and compliance, they should expand those to casual motorists and how they interact with large trucks on the road. Not doing so has, and will continue, to have serious consequences.