Truck-Related Fatalities Continue to Decrease

Bill Messerschmidt

Manager

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there was a substantial decline during 2009 in the number of drivers and vehicle occupants who were killed or injured in crashes involving large trucks (i.e., trucks over 10,000 pounds).

Last month, NHTSA released an Early Edition of Traffic Safety Facts, an annual publication containing a compilation of highway crash statistics. According to the Early Edition of Traffic Safety Facts 2009, 3,380 drivers and occupants were killed in crashes with large trucks, and 74,000 drivers and occupants were injured.

Those numbers seem large until one considers that the Federal Highway Administration has estimated that large trucks traveled a staggering 288 BILLION miles on US roadways during 2009. That equals a fatality rate of 1.17 persons killed per 100 million miles of truck travel, and 25.7 persons injured per 100 million miles.

In 2009, both injuries and fatalities declined substantially from 2008, when NHTSA estimated that 4,245 people were killed and 90,000 were injured, and the fatality rate per hundred million miles was 1.37.

Check out NHTSA’s Early Edition of Traffic Safety Facts 2009.

View the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's large truck crash statistics.

National Work Zone Awareness Week: April 4-8, 2011

Bill Messerschmidt

Manager

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

This week, April 4-8, is National Work Zone Awareness Week. This event is sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) each year for the purpose of increasing drivers' awareness of the dangers associated with highway work zones.

The theme of this year's event, "Whose Life is on the Line?" references the fact that almost 80% of the individuals killed in work zone crashes are motorists - not highway workers.

In 2009, there were 667 people killed in highway work zones and maintenance zones. This is a substantial decline since 2000, when 1,026 people were killed. To help keep these numbers on the decline, the National Work Zone Information Clearinghouse has created a comprehensive website with links to training, safety equipment, statistics, and regulations. The site is a valuable resource for contractors, workers, supervisors, and traffic planners.

The FHWA's website contains a great deal of useful information on work zone safety, including tools for work zone management, process review, and performance metrics.

Good News: Traffic Fatalities in 2010 Fell to Lowest Levels in Reported History

Kelly Messerschmidt

Technical Communications Manager

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday that despite the fact that American drivers drove significantly more miles during 2010, the number and rate of traffic fatalities in 2010 fell to their lowest levels in recorded history.

Factors that may have contributed to the reductions include:

• Department of Transportation (DOT) safety programs and public safety campaigns, including their website, distraction.gov, and national summits on distracted driving,
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) push for swift, voluntary reporting of safety defects by automakers,
• NHTSA's encouraging the development and use of crash prevention technologies, such as electronic stability control and lane-departure warning systems,
• The DOT's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) encouraging the use of Safety Edge technology and promoting the use of cable median barriers and rumble strips to reduce the number of crossover head-on collisions.