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Large Truck Crash Statistics for the State of Illinois

November 20th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) publishes an annual report called the “Summary of Large Trucks and Buses Involved in Crashes.”  This report can be found at Analysis and Information Online (www.ai.volpe.dot.gov), a website promulgated and maintained by the DOT.   The report identifies the number of large trucks and buses reported in fatal and nonfatal crashes, and focuses on fatalities and injuries reported in large truck and bus crashes for each state in the most recent five years.  The crash statistics contain information that can be used to identify safety problems in specific geographical areas or to compare state statistics to the national crash figures.  The fatal-crash data are collected from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), and the non-fatal crash data are collected from the Motor Carrier
Management Information System (MCMIS).  Neither FARS nor MCMIS databases contain information on crash causation or fault.  The data is only suggestive about why truck and bus crashes occur. Even so, the data may highlight problem areas that need to be addressed and pont toward possible countermeasures.

This post looks at the trends in large truck crashes in the state of Illinois.

Fatal Crashes
The report defines a “fatal crash” as one in which one or more persons dies within thirty days of the crash.    The fatality does not have to occur at the scene of the crash and includes any person involved in the crash, including pedestrians and bicyclists, as well occupants of the passenger cars and trucks.  For fatal crashes, the most recent data is from 2005.

Of the estimated 6,770 large truck collisions that occurred in the state of Illinois in 2005, 195 were fatal.  These 195 crashes resulted in 191 recorded fatalities, the vast majority of which were the occupants of passenger vehicles and pedestrians —29 truck drivers (15.2%), 140 passenger-vehicle occupants (73.3%) and 22 non-motorists (11.5%).  The most common type of truck involved in fatal collisions was the tractor/semi trailer, accounting for 141 of the 195 crashes (72.3%).  The majority of these trucks, 172 of 195 (88.2%), weighed over 26,000 pounds.  21.1% of the collisions resulting from driver-related error involved truck drivers driving too fast.  31% involved trucks drivers failing to stay in their lanes, and 20.7% involved truck drivers failing to yield to traffic.

87.7% of all fatal collisions involving large trucks in Illinois did not involve any type of adverse weather conditions. 64.6% of all fatal collisions involving large trucks occurred under normal daylight conditions.

Of the 91 fatal collisions involving trucks and passenger vehicles in 2005, 2 cases involved truck-driver intoxication in Illinois.  By comparison, there were 21 instances in which the passenger-vehicle driver had been drinking—16 of which involving a driver who blew over the .08 legal limit. 

Nonfatal Crash Statistics
The report defines a “nonfatal crash” as one in which one or more persons has nonfatal injuries requiring transportation for the purpose of obtaining immediate medical attention; or one or more of the vehicles were towed away from the scene due to “disabling damage.”  For non-fatal crashes, the most recent data is from 2006.

In 2006, there were an estimated 4,161 nonfatal large truck collisions in Illinois, resulting in 2,308 injuries and 2,647 towaways.  Most of the contributing factors for fatal collisions in Illinois are overwhelmingly similar to those of non-fatal crashes.   It appears that road and weather conditions, as well as driver characteristics, equally contribute to both fatal and nonfatal collisions. 

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