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Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2011 - Crashes

Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2011 - FMCSA-RRA-13-049, Analysis Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, October 2013

This chapter contains information on the circumstances of large truck crashes. Below is a summary of some of the information in this section:

  • Of the 273,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks in 2011, 3,341 (1 percent) resulted in at least one fatality, and 60,000 (22 percent) resulted in at least one nonfatal injury.
  • Single-vehicle crashes made up 22 percent of all fatal crashes, 13 percent of all injury crashes, and 21 percent of all property damage only crashes involving large trucks in 2011.
  • Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of all fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred on rural roads, and about one-fourth (25 percent) occurred on rural and urban Interstate highways.
  • Thirty-four percent of all fatal crashes, 22 percent of all injury crashes, and 17 percent of all property damage only crashes involving large trucks occurred at night (6:00 pm to 6:00 am).
  • The vast majority of fatal crashes (85 percent) and nonfatal crashes (89 percent) involving large trucks occurred on weekdays (Monday through Friday).
  • Collision with a vehicle in transport was the first harmful event (the first event during a crash that caused injury or property damage) in 72 percent of fatal crashes involving large trucks, 85 percent of injury crashes involving large trucks, and 77 percent of property damage only crashes involving large trucks.
  • Rollover was the first harmful event in 5 percent of all fatal crashes involving large trucks and 2 percent of all nonfatal crashes involving large trucks.