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Large Truck Crash Statistics for the State of Missouri

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 point toward possible countermeasures.

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

Fatal Crash Statistics
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 4,748 large truck collisions that occurred in the state of Missouri in 2005, 152 were fatal.    These 152 crashes resulted in 166 recorded fatalities, the vast majority of which were the occupants of passenger vehicles and pedestrians —22 truck drivers (13.3%), 133 passenger-vehicle occupants (80.1%) and 11 non-motorists (6.6%).  

The most common type of truck involved in fatal collisions was the tractor/semi-trailer, accounting for 99 of the 152 crashes (65.1%).  The majority of these trucks, 141 of 152 (92.8%), weighed over 26,000 pounds.  Over 50% of collisions resulting from driver-related error involved truck drivers driving too fast, while 44.6% involved inattention—with the two factors often collaborating to produce major collisions. 

82.9% of all fatal large truck collisions in Missouri did not involve any type of adverse weather conditions. 67.8% of all fatal large-truck collisions occurred under normal daylight conditions.  

Of the 81 fatal collisions between a large truck and a passenger vehicle, there were no recorded cases of truck-driver intoxication.  This was an improvement over the year 2002, which saw 3 cases involving truck driver intoxication.    By comparison, there were 18 instances in which the passenger-vehicle driver had been drinking—15 of which involving a driver who blew over the .08 legal limit.    
 
Nonfatal Crash Statistics
The report defines a “nonfatal crash” as one where one or more persons has nonfatal injuries requiring transportation by a vehicle 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 6,108 nonfatal large truck collisions in Missouri, resulting in 2,352 injuries and 3,756 towaways.  Unlike the fatal large truck crashes, the majority of non-fatal collisions, 59.7%, involved truck/trailers, as opposed to the truck/semi-trailers that accounted for 65.1% of fatal crashes.  Aside from these differences, most of the contributing factors for fatal collisions in Missouri are overwhelmingly similar to those of non-fatal crashes.   It seems that road and weather conditions, as well as driver characteristics, equally contribute to both fatal and nonfatal collisions. 

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