Large Truck Crash Profile:

The 1998 National Picture

> Analysis Division![](media/image1.wmf){width="2.8194444444444446in"
> height="1.45625in"}
>
> Federal Motor Carrier
>
> Safety
> Administration![](media/image2.png){width="0.7444444444444445in"
> height="0.7236111111111111in"}
>
> January 2000

![](media/image3.wmf){width="0.4222222222222222in"
height="0.42291666666666666in"}

# Executive Summary

-   In 1998, 4,935 large trucks were involved in **fatal** crashes, an
    estimated 89,000 were involved in **injury** crashes, and an
    estimated 318,000 involved in **property-damage-only** crashes.

-   Large trucks accounted for 9 percent of all the vehicles involved in
    **fatal** crashes during the year, 2 percent of the vehicles in
    **injury** crashes, and 4 percent of the vehicles in
    **property-damage-only** crashes.

-   A total of 5,374 people were killed and an estimated 127,000 were
    injured in crashes involving at least one large truck. A large
    percentage of the people killed in the crashes were occupants of the
    other vehicles involved.

-   The crash involvement rate for large trucks in **fatal** crashes
    (number of vehicles involved per 100 million vehicle miles traveled)
    was slightly higher than the rate for passenger vehicles. For
    **injury** crashes, however, the involvement rate for passenger
    vehicles was more than three times the rate for large trucks.

-   Sixty-five percent of the trucks involved in **fatal** crashes, and
    more than one-half of those involved in **non-fatal** crashes, were
    tractors pulling single semi-trailers. Three percent of the trucks
    in **fatal** crashes were doubles, and 0.2 percent were triples.
    Less than 5 percent of the trucks in **fatal** and **non-fatal**
    crashes were transporting hazardous materials.

-   In two-vehicle **fatal** crashes involving a large truck and a
    passenger vehicle, 7 percent of the truck drivers were under 26
    years old, and 2 percent were over 65. In contrast, 24 percent of
    the drivers of the passenger vehicles involved were under 26 years
    old, and 20 percent were over 65.

-   In two-vehicle **fatal** crashes involving a large truck and a
    passenger vehicle, only 0.6 percent of the truck drivers had a blood
    alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 grams per deciliter or greater,
    the level for intoxication in most States. In contrast, 14 percent
    of the drivers of the passenger vehicles involved had a BAC level of
    0.10 or greater.

-   In two-vehicle **fatal** crashes involving a large truck and a
    passenger vehicle, driver-related crash factors were coded for 26
    percent of the truck drivers involved. In contrast, driver-related
    crash factors were coded for 82 percent of the passenger vehicle
    drivers involved.

-   A large majority of the **fatal** and **non-fatal** crashes
    involving large trucks occurred in good weather, on dry road
    surfaces, during the day, and on weekdays.

-   In 79 percent of the **fatal** crashes involving large trucks, the
    first harmful event was the collision of the truck with another
    vehicle in transport. In more than two-thirds of the **non-fatal**
    crashes involving large trucks, the first harmful event was the
    collision of the truck with another moving vehicle.

# Contents 

**Page**

**Executive Summary i**

**Introduction 1**

Data Sources 1

Organization of the Report 2

**Overview and Trends 3**

Large Truck Crashes 3

People Killed and Injured in Large Truck Crashes 5

Crash Rates 7

**Vehicles 9**

Types of Vehicles 9

Vehicle Weight 11

Hazardous Materials Cargo 11

**Drivers 15**

Driver Age 15

Driver License Status 16

Driver Condition 17

Driver Restraint Use 17

Driver Alcohol Use 17

Driver Crash Factors 18

**Environment 23**

Weather and Road Surface Conditions 23

Light Conditions, Time of Day, and Day of Week 24

Roadway Types 26

**Crashes 29**

Geographic Location 29

Crash Events 29

Type of Crash 31

**Motor Carriers 33**

**MCMIS Crash File Progress 35**

**Tables** **Page**

**Overview and Trends**

1\. Motor Vehicles in Crashes, 1998 3

2\. Large Trucks Involved in Non-Fatal Crashes, 1988-1998 5

3\. Fatalities and Persons Injured in Large Truck Crashes, 1988-1998 6

4\. Location of Victims of Large Truck Crashes, 1998 6

**Vehicles**

5\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Vehicle Configuration, 1998 10

6\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Cargo Body Type, 1998 10

7\. Trucks in Crashes by Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, 1998 11

8\. Trucks in Crashes by Hazardous Materials Cargo, 1998 12

9\. Trucks in Crashes by Hazardous Materials Cargo Release, 1998 12

10\. Trucks in Crashes by Class of Hazardous Materials Release, 1998 13

**Drivers**

11\. Drivers in Two-Vehicle Fatal Crashes Involving a Large Truck and a
Passenger Vehicle by Driver Age, 1998 15

12\. Driver Safety Belt Use in Large Truck-Passenger Vehicle Crashes,
1998 17

13\. Driver Alcohol Use in Large Truck-Passenger Vehicle Crashes, 1998
18

14\. Driver-Related Factors Cited in Two-Vehicle Fatal Crashes Between
Large Trucks and Passenger Vehicles, 1998 20

15\. Driver-Related Factors in Single-Vehicle Fatal Crashes, 1998 21

16\. Driver-Related Factors in Two-Vehicle Fatal Crashes Between
Passenger Vehicles, 1998 22

**Environment**

17\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Weather Condition, 1998 23

18\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Road Surface Condition, 1998 24

19\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Light Condition, 1998 24

20\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Time of Day, 1998 25

21\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Day of Week, 1998 26

22\. Large Trucks in Fatal Crashes by Type of Roadway, 1998 26

23\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Type of Trafficway, 1998 27

**Crashes**

24\. Large Trucks in Crashes by First Harmful Event or First Crash
Event, 1998 30

25\. Large Trucks in Crashes by Initial Impact Area, 1998 31

**MCMIS Crash File Progress**

26\. Large Trucks in 1998 Fatal Crashes by State: FARS vs. MCMIS 36

**Figures**

1\. Large Trucks in Fatal Crashes, 1988-1998 4

2\. Large Trucks and Passenger Vehicles Involved in Fatal Crashes
per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled, 1988-1998 7

3\. Large Trucks and Passenger Vehicles Involved in Injury Crashes
per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled, 1988-1998 8

# Introduction

This annual edition of the *Large Truck Crash Profile* contains
descriptive statistics about fatal and non‑fatal (injury and
property-damage-only) large truck crashes that occurred in 1998. The
profile includes only some of the major aspects of truck crashes and
some comparable data on passenger vehicle crashes. Additional crash data
for trucks, truck drivers, and motor carriers can be obtained from the
Analysis Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

## Data Sources

The following are the major sources for data included in this report.
Several other sources used sparingly are referred to in the text.

**Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).** FARS, maintained by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is a census of
crashes involving any motor vehicle traveling on a public trafficway,
*but only fatal crashes*. FARS is recognized as the most reliable
national crash database. According to FARS, 4,935 large trucks were
involved in fatal crashes in 1998. A large truck is defined in FARS as a
truck with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 10,000
pounds.

**General Estimates System (GES).** GES, also maintained by NHTSA, is a
probability-based nationally representative sample of all
police-reported fatal, injury, and property-damage-only crashes. The
data presented from the GES file are national estimates, calculated
using an appropriate weighting variable. The GES data cannot be broken
down by States, because the crash cases drawn are aimed only at
obtaining a valid national sample. Furthermore, because GES is a sample
file, estimates are subject to sampling error. According to GES, an
estimated 412,000 large trucks were involved in crashes reported to
police in 1998. The GES definition of a large truck is the same as the
FARS definition.

**Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) Crash File.** The
MCMIS Crash File, maintained by FMCSA, includes the National Governors'
Association (NGA) recommended data elements collected on trucks and
buses involved in crashes that meet the NGA recommended threshold. An
NGA reportable crash must involve a truck (a vehicle designed, used, or
maintained primarily for carrying property that has at least two axles
and six tires) or a bus (a vehicle with seats for at least 16 people,
including the driver). The crash must result in: at least one fatality;
at least one injury for which the person injured is taken to a medical
facility for immediate medical attention; or at least one vehicle towed
from the scene as a result of disabling crash damage. The crashes are
reported by States to FMCSA through the SAFETYNET computer software.

The Crash File is intended to be a census of trucks and buses involved
in fatal, injury, and towaway crashes, but some States do not report all
NGA-eligible crashes. For 1998, States reported 97,691 trucks involved
in crashes through SAFETYNET to the MCMIS Crash File; based on the 1998
GES, an estimated 148,000 trucks involved in crashes should have been
reported. Thus, FMCSA received reports on about 66 percent (97,691 out
of 148,000) of the trucks involved in 1998 NGA-reportable crashes.

More than one-half of the non-fatal truck crashes in the MCMIS Crash
File are injury crashes. In contrast, less than one-fourth of the GES
non-fatal truck crashes involved an injury, and more than 75 percent
were property-damage-only crashes---many in which no vehicles were towed
from the scene. Thus, it can be assumed that the typical GES crash is
less severe than the typical MCMIS crash.

## Organization of the Report

This *Profile* contains seven sections: Overview and Trends, Vehicles,
Drivers, Environment, Crashes, Motor Carriers, and MCMIS Crash File
Progress. For the most part, data on trucks and passenger vehicles
involved in fatal crashes presented in tables and charts are FARS data.
In the few cases where there are no FARS data on a particular variable,
the data are taken from fatal crashes in the MCMIS Crash File. Tables on
non-fatal crashes include data from MCMIS and GES. Some tables contain
only FARS and MCMIS data, when GES data are not available. The level of
analysis in most of the tables in the profile is the vehicle. In other
words, what is being counted is the number of vehicles involved in
crashes, both fatal and non-fatal. The major exception is the driver
section, where what is being counted is the number of drivers in each of
the various categories.

For FMCSA, the most important questions involving motor carrier crashes
are what are the crash problems, why do crashes happen, and how do FMCSA
and State programs and activities relate to ameliorating the conditions
that lead to crashes. None of the current truck and bus crash databases
provides in-depth data on the causes or reasons for truck and bus
crashes, although some of the data are suggestive of crash causes. The
FMCSA Analysis Division relies on FMCSA field staff and our State
partners to suggest ways in which the available data can best be
analyzed to support safety efforts in the field. The tables and comments
presented in this report are examples of the ways the Analysis Division
can examine the existing data.

**Neither FARS, GES, nor MCMIS contains information on crash causation
or fault. The data can only be suggestive about why truck crashes occur.
Even so, the data can point toward problem areas that may need to be
addressed and toward possible countermeasures.**

# Overview and Trends

To put truck crashes in perspective, the following tables and charts
compare the crash experience for large trucks with that for other
vehicles, in many cases covering 10 years. The data include fatal,
injury, and property-damage-only crashes and cover both the vehicles and
the people involved.

Large trucks involved in fatal crashes represented 9 percent of all
vehicles involved in fatal crashes in 1998 (Table 1). The proportion of
large trucks in less severe crashes was appreciably lower: only
2 percent of the vehicles involved in injury crashes and 4 percent of
those involved in property-damage-only crashes were large trucks.

Table 1. Motor Vehicles in Crashes, 1998

  ------------------- ---------------- ----------------- -----------------
  Crash Severity      Large Trucks     All Vehicles      Percent Large
                                                         Trucks

  Fatal               4,935            56,865            8.7%

  Injury              89,000           3,757,000         2.4%

  Property Damage     318,000          7,587,000         4.2%
  Only                                                   

  **Total**           **412,000**      **11,401,000**    **3.6%**

  Sources: FARS and                                      
  GES, 1998.                                             
  ------------------- ---------------- ----------------- -----------------

## Large Truck Crashes

Data on large truck fatal crashes since 1988 are shown in Figure 1. The
lines on the chart represent three ways to measure large truck fatal
crash data:

-   **Fatalities** in crashes involving large trucks. This number is a
    count of **people** sustaining fatal injuries in crashes involving
    large trucks. The number of fatalities is always more than the
    number of trucks in fatal crashes or the number of fatal crashes,
    because in some crashes involving large trucks more than one person
    dies. The fatalities may be occupants of the truck, occupants of the
    other vehicle, pedestrians, or other nonoccupants.

-   **Large trucks** involved in fatal crashes. This number is a count
    of **vehicles**, which is always smaller than the number of
    fatalities but larger than the number of fatal crashes involving
    large trucks. Vehicles are the unit of analysis employed in most
    tables and charts in this profile.

-   **Fatal crashes** involving large trucks. This number is a count of
    **crashes**. It is always the smallest number, because in some fatal
    crashes there is more than one large truck involved.

As can be seen in Figure 1, these three numbers are closely related and
almost always move in the same direction from year to year. From 1988 to
1992 there was a 4-year decline in all three measures, followed by a
2-year rise to 1994. After a 1-year drop, the three numbers rose again
through 1997. From 1997 to 1998 the number of fatalities fell slightly
(down 24), and the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks
dropped by 53; however, the number of large trucks involved in fatal
crashes rose by 18. For all three numbers, the changes from 1997 to 1998
were less than 1 percent.

Figure 1. Large Trucks in Fatal Crashes,
1988-1998![](media/image4.wmf){width="7.002083333333333in"
height="4.166666666666667in"}

Source: FARS, 1988-1998.

During the 1988-1998 period the estimated number of large trucks
involved in injury and property-damage-only crashes did not steadily
increase or decrease (Table 2). The number of large trucks in injury
crashes reached a high point in 1989 and low point in 1991. The number
involved in property-damage-only crashes reached a low in 1991 and a
high 3 years later in 1994.

Table 2. Large Trucks Involved in Non-Fatal Crashes, 1988-1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Year                    Injury Crashes          Property-Damage-Only
                                                  Crashes
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
  1988                    96,000                  297,000

  1989                    110,000                 300,000

  1990                    107,000                 273,000

  1991                    78,000                  248,000

  1992                    95,000                  277,000

  1993                    97,000                  296,000

  1994                    95,000                  360,000

  1995                    84,000                  289,000

  1996                    94,000                  296,000

  1997                    97,000                  342,000

  1998                    89,000                  318,000

  Source: GES, 1988-1998.                         
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Unlike the fatal crash numbers, which change relatively slowly from year
to year, the injury and property-damage-only numbers show large changes
in some cases. For example, the biggest year-to-year change in the
number of trucks involved in fatal crashes was a 9-percent decline from
1990 to 1991. In the two other categories, the largest changes were a
27-percent drop in the number of trucks involved in injury crashes from
1990 to 1991 and a 21-percent rise in the number involved in
property-damage-only crashes from 1993 to 1994. Some of the large
year-to-year changes in the GES injury estimates may be due to sampling
variation. The general trend in injury crashes has been down, while the
trend in property-damage-only crashes has been up.

## People Killed and Injured in Large Truck Crashes

The following tables show the trends in numbers of people killed and
injured in crashes involving at least one large truck. Fatalities in
crashes involving at least one large truck increased by 9 percent
between 1995 and 1998 (Table 3); however, the 1998 number of 5,374
represents only 13 percent of the total deaths in motor vehicle traffic
crashes during the year. The number of people injured in crashes
involving large trucks was 6,000 fewer in 1998 than in 1997 (127,000
versus 133,000). For 3 of the past 6 years the GES estimate of people
injured in large truck crashes is 133,000. The decline from 1997 to 1998
may reflect a downward trend in injuries, or the 1-year drop may be an
artifact of the 1998 GES crash sample.

Table 3. Fatalities and Persons Injured in Large Truck Crashes,
1988-1998

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Year               Fatalities                 Injuries
  ------------------ -------------------------- --------------------------
  1988               5,679                      130,000

  1989               5,490                      156,000

  1990               5,272                      150,000

  1991               4,821                      110,000

  1992               4,462                      138,000

  1993               4,849                      133,000

  1994               5,144                      133,000

  1995               4,918                      117,000

  1996               5,142                      130,000

  1997               5,398                      133,000

  1998               5,374                      127,000

  Sources: FARS,                                
  1988-1998; GES,                               
  1988-1998.                                    
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most commercial trucks involved in crashes have a GVWR over 26,000
pounds. All passenger vehicles have a GVWR under 10,000 pounds, and
usually they are under 5,000 pounds GVWR. Thus, it is not surprising
that when large trucks and passenger vehicles collide, the occupants of
the passenger vehicle are more likely to suffer injuries (Table 4).

Table 4. Location of Victims of Large Truck Crashes, 1998

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Victim Type   Total Number  Percent Large   Percent Other   Percent
                              Truck Occupants Vehicle         Nonoccupants
                                              Occupants       
  ------------- ------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
  Killed        **5,374**     13.5%           78.4%           8.1%

  Injured       **123,000**   22.6%           75.8%           1.5%

  Sources: FARS                                               
  and GES,                                                    
  1998.                                                       
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In fatal crashes involving large trucks, the occupants of the other
vehicles---usually the drivers--- accounted for more than three-fourths
of the fatalities (78 percent). Truck occupants accounted for only 14
percent of the fatalities, and the other 8 percent were pedestrians or
bicyclists. In injury crashes the pattern is the same, but not quite as
pronounced: other vehicle occupants accounted for three-fourths of the
injured victims (76 percent), and truck drivers accounted for less than
one-fourth (23 percent). The largest difference is seen for
nonoccupants, who accounted for 8.1 percent of those killed in crashes
involving large trucks but only 1.5 percent of those injured.

## Crash Rates

The two figures that follow compare the fatal and injury crash rates for
large trucks and passenger vehicles involved in crashes. Large trucks
are those with GVWR over 10,000 pounds. Passenger vehicles include
passenger cars, pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles. Crash
rates are the number of vehicles of each type involved in crashes per
100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Both charts cover the years
1988 to 1998.

The fatal crash involvement rates for large trucks and passenger
vehicles are similar (Figure 2), but the injury crash involvement rates
are very different (Figure 3). The large truck fatal crash rate dropped
by 32 percent from 1988 to 1998---from 3.7 to 2.5 per 100 million VMT.
The fatal crash rate for passenger vehicles was slightly lower than the
rate for large trucks throughout the 1988-1998 period; however, the
29-percent decline for passenger vehicles (from 2.8 to 2.0) was slightly
less than the 32-percent decline for large trucks (from 3.7 to 2.5).

From 1988 through 1994, the crash rates for passenger vehicles involved
in injury crashes were more than double those for large trucks, and from
1995 through 1998 the passenger vehicle rates were more than triple the
large truck rates for injury crashes. Injury crashes are far more common
than fatal crashes. For example, in 1998 large trucks were involved in
only 2.6 fatal crashes per 100 million VMT, compared with 45 injury
crashes per 100 million VMT. For passenger vehicles the 1998 numbers
were 2.0 fatal crashes per 100 million VMT and 149 injury crashes per
100 million VMT.

Figure 2. Large Trucks and Passenger Vehicles Involved in Fatal Crashes
per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled,
1988-1998![](media/image5.wmf){width="7.002083333333333in"
height="4.166666666666667in"}

Sources: FARS, 1988-1998; *Highway Statistics*, 1988-1998.

Figure 3. Large Trucks and Passenger Vehicles Involved in Injury Crashes
per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled,
1988-1998![](media/image4.wmf){width="7.002083333333333in"
height="4.166666666666667in"}

Sources: GES, 1988-1998, and *Highway Statistics*, 1988-1998.

# Vehicles

Large trucks (GVWR over 10,000 pounds) in 1998 accounted for:

-   **9 percent** of the vehicles involved in fatal crashes,

-   **2 percent** of vehicles in injury crashes, and

-   **4 percent** of vehicles involved in property-damage-only crashes.

## Types of Vehicles

The typical large truck involved in a crash in 1998 in the United States
was a truck-tractor pulling a single semi-trailer that was a
van/enclosed box or flatbed and capable of carrying a large cargo load.
Only a small percentage of the trucks were carrying hazardous materials
at the time of the crash.

Sixty-five percent of the trucks involved in fatal crashes in 1998 were
tractors pulling semi-trailers, usually an 18-wheeler (Table 5). In
non-fatal crashes, 53 percent of the trucks in the MCMIS Crash File and
49 percent of those in the GES file were tractor semi-trailers. (The GES
percentage would probably be higher if the unknown number were lower
than 34 percent.) The ratio of combination trucks (trucks pulling
trailers, truck tractors pulling no trailers, and truck tractors pulling
single trailers, double trailers, and triple trailers) to single-unit
trucks in fatal and non-fatal crashes was more than 3 to 1. The
percentages in Table 5 have varied little over the past 5 years.

Single-unit trucks (two and three or more axles) accounted for only 20
percent of the trucks involved in fatal crashes in 1998. Single-unit
trucks accounted for 22 percent of the trucks involved in non-fatal
crashes in the MCMIS Crash File and 12 percent in the GES data. (Again,
the GES number would probably be higher, but one-third of the sample was
coded to the "unknown" vehicle configuration category.)

More than one-third of the large trucks involved in crashes (43 percent
of those in fatal crashes and 37 percent in non-fatal crashes) had a
van/enclosed box cargo body type (Table 6). The three other
highest-ranking cargo body types accounted for less than one-third of
the total: flatbeds (14 percent of the large trucks involved in fatal
crashes, 13 percent in non-fatal crashes); dump trucks (11 percent in
fatal crashes, 9 percent in non-fatal crashes); and cargo tank trucks (8
percent in fatal crashes, 5 percent in non-fatal crashes). Cargo tank
trucks are those most likely to carry hazardous materials in bulk.
Unfortunately, other, unknown, and missing data for cargo body type add
up to 20 percent of the total in FARS and 31 percent in MCMIS. In the
GES file, 64 percent of the cargo body types were coded as "unknown,"
and so GES data are not reported in Table 6.

Table 5. Large Trucks in Crashes by Vehicle Configuration, 1998

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Vehicle Configuration                     Fatal: FARS Non-Fatal    
  ----------------------------------------- ----------- ------------ -------------
                                                        MCMIS        GES

  Single Unit Truck, 2 Axles                10.8%       12.0%        12.0%

  Single Unit Truck, 3+ Axles               9.6%        9.9%         

  Truck/Trailer(s)                          3.8%        10.9%        0.7%

  Truck Tractor (Bobtail)                   2.1%        3.2%         2.2%

  Tractor/Semi-trailer                      64.5%       52.5%        48.8%

  Tractor/Double                            2.8%        2.9%         1.3%

  Tractor/Triple                            0.2%        0.1%         0.1%

  Unknown                                   6.3%        2.8%         34.4%

  Missing                                   \--         5.7%         \--

  **Total Number**                          **4,935**   **93,308**   **407,000**
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

Table 6. Large Trucks in Crashes by Cargo Body Type, 1998

  ------------------------- ---------------------- ----------------------
  Cargo Body                Fatal                  Non-Fatal

  Van/Enclosed Box          43.3%                  36.5%

  Flatbed                   13.7%                  12.9%

  Dump                      11.2%                  9.2%

  Cargo Tank                7.9%                   5.1%

  Garbage/Refuse            2.4%                   2.4%

  Concrete Mixer            0.8%                   1.6%

  Auto Transporter          0.7%                   1.0%

  Other                     9.8%                   20.9%

  Unknown                   10.1%                  \--

  Missing                   \--                    10.4%

  **Total Number**          **4,935**              **93,308**
  ------------------------- ---------------------- ----------------------

Sources: FARS and MCMIS Crash File, 1998.

## Vehicle Weight

The gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is the maximum manufacturer's
recommended total weight for the vehicle and its cargo. Trucks involved
in crashes are overwhelmingly those that can carry heavy loads.

More than four-fifths (83 percent) of the trucks involved in fatal
crashes in 1998 and almost three-fourths (72 percent) of those in
non-fatal crashes had GVWRs over 26,000 pounds (Table 7). By comparison,
most passenger cars have GVWRs between 2,000 and 4,000 pounds. Fewer
than 10 percent of the trucks involved in fatal and non-fatal crashes
had GVWRs between 10,000 and 26,000 pounds, and almost all of those were
single-unit trucks.

Table 7. Trucks in Crashes by Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  GVWR                        Fatal                 Non-Fatal
  --------------------------- --------------------- ---------------------
  Under 10,001 lbs            0.3%                  1.6%

  10,001 - 26,000 lbs         8.4%                  8.7%

  Over 26,000 lbs             83.0%                 71.5%

  Unknown                     6.9%                  \--

  Missing                     1.4%                  18.2%

  **Total Number**            **4,935**             **93,308**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS and MCMIS Crash File, 1998.

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI)
analyzed the size of large trucks involved in fatal crashes from 1991
through 1996 for an FMCSA analysis brief. Of the 15,836 trucks for which
weight could be determined, 7,564 (48 percent) weighed more than 60,000
pounds at the time of the crash.

## Hazardous Materials Cargo

One note should be mentioned about the following hazardous materials
(HM) tables. In the FARS data, large trucks are counted as carrying
hazardous materials if they display an HM placard, or if later
investigation shows that they were carrying hazardous materials without
a placard. For the NGA hazardous materials crash data element, however,
the reporting officer records only the presence of an HM placard on the
truck. Some observers suspect that a significant number of trucks carry
hazardous materials without displaying the required HM placards.

With these caveats in mind, Table 8 indicates that only a small
percentage of trucks in crashes carried hazardous materials at the time
of a crash. In both fatal crashes in FARS and non-fatal crashes in the
MCMIS Crash File, only 4 percent of the trucks involved displayed an HM
placard. The large percentage of missing data in the MCMIS Crash File
may be the result of police officers not responding to the element on
police accident reports when no placard is present, as opposed to
checking the "No" response; the overwhelming percentage of unknown data
in GES may result from the same problem. In the GES file, 73 percent of
the data on the presence of hazardous materials is missing, and so GES
data are not reported in Table 8.

Table 8. Trucks in Crashes by Hazardous Materials Cargo, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Hazardous Materials Cargo       Fatal               Non-Fatal
  ------------------------------- ------------------- -------------------
  Yes                             4.3%                4.3%

  No                              93.5%               40.5%

  Unknown                         2.2%                \--

  Missing                         \--                 55.2%

  **Total Number**                **4,935**           **93,308**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS and MCMIS Crash File, 1998.

Releases of hazardous materials from the cargo compartment were recorded
for 33 percent of the trucks displaying an HM placard that were involved
in fatal crashes and 22 percent of those involved in non-fatal crashes,
according to MCMIS Crash File data (Table 9). Neither FARS nor GES
includes HM cargo release data.

Table 9. Trucks in Crashes by Hazardous Materials Cargo Release, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Cargo Release           Fatal                   Non-Fatal
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
  Yes                     33.3%                   22.3%

  No                      66.7%                   77.7%

  **Total Number**        **129**                 **2,425**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: MCMIS Crash File, 1998.

The Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents (TIFA) database from UMTRI is the
most reliable fatal crash database for trucks; however, final TIFA data
for 1998 will not be available for several months. For the years 1991
through 1997 the TIFA data show an average of 200 trucks a year carrying
hazardous materials involved in fatal crashes, of which an average of 59
a year (30 percent) released HM cargo as a result of the crash. That
figure is slightly lower than the FARS number recorded for trucks
carrying hazardous materials in fatal crashes.

For trucks involved in crashes that released hazardous materials, the
most common class of material released from the truck cargo compartment
(Table 10) was Class 3, flammable liquids (51 percent of the releases in
fatal crashes and 42 percent in non-fatal crashes). Flammable liquids
include gasoline, the most common hazardous material transported. Most
gasoline shipments involve local deliveries from the end of a pipeline
or a tank farm to automobile service stations.

The second most common class of hazardous material spilled in 1998 was
Class 9, miscellaneous dangerous goods (14 percent in fatal crashes and
18 percent in non-fatal crashes). These goods include liquid and solid
hazardous wastes, substances that do not present a transportation safety
hazard but are hazardous to the environment (such as PCBs), and
substances that are hazardous when raised to a high temperature (such as
hot asphalt). For 14 percent of the 43 trucks that released hazardous
materials in fatal crashes, and for 20 percent of the 541 in non-fatal
crashes, no HM class was recorded.

Table 10. Trucks in Crashes by Class of Hazardous Materials Release,
1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Class of HM Release               Fatal              Non-Fatal
  --------------------------------- ------------------ ------------------
  1 - Explosives                    2.3%               3.0%

  2 - Gases                         9.3%               6.5%

  3 - Flammable Liquid              51.2%              42.3%

  4 - Flammable Solids              0.0%               0.7%

  5 - Oxidizing Substances          2.3%               2.0%

  6 - Poison and Infectious         0.0%               1.1%
  Substances                                           

  7 - Radioactive Material          0.0%               0.0%

  8 - Corrosives                    7.0%               6.5%

  9 - Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods 14.0%              17.8%

  Missing                           14.0%              20.0%

  **Total Number**                  **43**             **541**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: MCMIS Crash File, 1998.

In total, hazardous materials are a minor element in truck crashes for
two reasons:

-   Only a small percentage of trucks involved in crashes carry
    hazardous materials.

-   The materials carried usually stay in the cargo compartment. In
    fatal crashes reported to the MCMIS Crash File in 1998, only 43
    trucks released hazardous materials. Of the more than 93,000 trucks
    involved in non-fatal crashes reported to the MCMIS database, there
    were hazardous material releases in only 541 cases.

Releases of hazardous materials in highway crashes rarely play a role in
deaths or injuries. The Research and Special Programs Administration
(RSPA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation reported an average of
only 11 deaths a year attributable to exposure to hazardous materials in
highway crashes over the past 10 years. Because the RSPA data come only
from interstate carriers, total fatalities are understated, perhaps by a
multiple of two or three. In any event, total fatalities related to
exposure to hazardous materials in highway crashes would be a small
percent of the 5,374 total fatalities in large truck crashes in 1998.

# Drivers

Truck drivers involved in fatal crashes in 1998 were generally between
26 and 45 years old. A large majority had valid drivers licenses at the
time of the crash and were in apparently normal condition. For most, no
driver-related crash factors were recorded. Drivers of passenger
vehicles involved in fatal collisions with trucks were more likely than
the drivers of the trucks to be under 26 or over 65 years old, to have
invalid drivers licenses, to be legally drunk, and to be cited for
driver-related crash factors.

## Driver Age

The FARS and GES databases have information on all drivers involved in
fatal and non-fatal crashes. The MCMIS Crash File has data only on truck
drivers. In one-half of fatal and non-fatal truck crashes in 1998, the
truck collided with a single passenger vehicle---a passenger car,
pickup, van, or sport utility vehicle. Table 11 presents data on the
ages of the drivers of large trucks and the drivers of passenger
vehicles involved in two-vehicle fatal and non-fatal crashes involving a
large truck and a passenger vehicle. The two columns of FARS data show
the ages for truck drivers and passenger vehicle drivers involved in
two-vehicle fatal crashes with each other. The two columns of GES data
show the ages of drivers in non-fatal crashes.

Table 11. Drivers in Two-Vehicle Fatal Crashes Involving a Large Truck
and a Passenger Vehicle by Driver Age, 1998

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Driver Age          Fatal                     Non-Fatal     
  ------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------- -------------
                      Large Trucks Passenger    Large Trucks  Passenger
                                   Vehicles                   Vehicles

  \< 26               7.2%         24.2%        10.3%         19.4%

  26-45               57.6%        34.6%        59.1%         45.8%

  46-65               32.3%        21.6%        28.2%         25.3%

  66-75               2.2%         9.0%         2.1%          5.5%

  \>75                0.2%         11.1%        0.3%          4.1%

  Unknown/Missing     0.5%         0.1%         \--           \--

  **Total Number**    **2,740**    **2,740**    **227,000**   **227,000**
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS and GES, 1998.

Table 11 includes the ages of 2,740 truck drivers and the same number of
passenger vehicle drivers who were involved in the two-vehicle fatal
crashes. The total represents 56 percent of the total number of trucks
involved in fatal crashes. (The other trucks were involved in
single-vehicle crashes; two-vehicle crashes with a bus, motorcycle, or
another large truck; or multi-vehicle crashes.) In contrast, the 2,740
passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes with large trucks represent
only 6 percent of the 48,209 passenger vehicles involved in all types of
fatal crashes in 1998.

The age profiles of the truck drivers involved in two-vehicle fatal
crashes with passenger vehicles and those of the drivers of the cars and
light trucks involved are very different. Only 7 percent of the truck
drivers were younger than 26 years old and only 2 percent were older
than 65. In contrast, 24 percent of the drivers of the passenger
vehicles were younger than 26, and 20 percent were older than 65. In
other words, 44 percent of the passenger vehicle drivers involved were
either under 26 or over 65, compared with only 10 percent of the truck
drivers involved.

The age profiles for drivers in non-fatal two-vehicle crashes between a
large truck and a passenger vehicle are similar to those for drivers in
fatal crashes. Only 10 percent of truck drivers in these non-fatal
crashes were under the age of 26, and only 2 percent were over 65,
whereas 19 percent of passenger vehicle drivers in these crashes were
under 25 years old, and 10 percent were over 65.

It should be noted that drivers must be at least 21 years old to obtain
a commercial drivers license (CDL). A CDL is needed to operate a truck
in commerce with a GVWR over 26,000 pounds, or to drive a truck of any
GVWR carrying hazardous materials.

## Driver License Status

The FARS database contains information on the driver license status of
each driver involved in a crash. A large majority of all the drivers in
two-vehicle fatal crashes in 1998 that involved a large truck held valid
licenses; however, there were differences between the large truck and
passenger vehicle drivers.

Of the 2,740 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes with
passenger vehicles, 90 percent (2,454) held valid CDLs and another 6
percent (163) held other valid licenses at the time of the crash, for a
total of 96 percent. (Because CDLs are not required to drive all large
trucks, the presence of another valid license can be sufficient to
comply with the law.) Among the remaining 4 percent of the truck
drivers, 28 had suspended, revoked, expired, or canceled licenses; 25
had other invalid licenses; and the license status of the remaining 70
drivers was not known.

Among the drivers of the passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes
with large trucks, 89 percent had valid licenses, compared with 96
percent of the truck drivers. Among the remaining 11 percent of
passenger vehicle drivers, 83 had no license; 196 had a suspended,
revoked, expired, or canceled license; and the license status of the
remaining 25 drivers was not known.

Thus, while 53 truck drivers (1.9 percent) out of the 2,740 involved in
two-vehicle large truck-passenger vehicle fatal crashes had invalid
drivers licenses, 279 of the passenger vehicle drivers (10.2 percent)
out of 2,740 involved had invalid licenses or none at all. The
proportion of passenger vehicle drivers with invalid or no licenses in
these crashes was more than five times the proportion of truck drivers
with invalid or no licenses.

## Driver Condition

One NGA crash data element is apparent driver condition, which is based
on the reporting police officer's opinion. Of the 3,772 truck drivers
involved in fatal crashes in the MCMIS Crash File, "appeared normal" was
checked for 72 percent, "unknown" was checked for 14 percent, and no
driver condition was recorded for 10 percent. For the remaining 5
percent of the drivers, 56 were affected by fatigue or asleep, 59 had
been drinking, 36 had been using illegal drugs, 9 were sick, and another
9 were affected by medication they had taken.

Among the 93,308 truck drivers in non-fatal crashes in the MCMIS Crash
File, 82 percent appeared normal, and for 16 percent the driver
condition was unknown or not recorded. Among the other 2 percent, 1,231
appeared to be affected by fatigue or were asleep, 513 had been
drinking, 100 had been using illegal drugs, and 226 were sick. In sum,
there appeared to be nothing wrong with the physical condition of more
than 90 percent of the truck drivers involved in fatal and non-fatal
crashes.

## Driver Restraint Use

Seat belts have proven to have safety benefits in preventing deaths and
serious injuries in motor vehicle crashes. Table 12 shows safety belt
use rates for drivers in two-vehicle fatal and non-fatal crashes between
large trucks and passenger vehicles.

Table 12. Driver Safety Belt Use in Large Truck-Passenger Vehicle
Crashes, 1998

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Belt Use          Fatal Crashes               Non-Fatal     
                                                Crashes       
  ----------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
                    Large Trucks  Passenger     Large Trucks  Passenger
                                  Vehicles                    Vehicles

  Yes               76.4%         48.8%         81.3%         85.3%

  No                14.8%         41.5%         5.8%          5.5%

  Unknown           8.8%          9.7%          12.9%         9.2%

  **Total Number**  **2,740**     **2,740**     **227,000**   **227,000**
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS and GES, 1998.

In the fatal crashes, three-fourths of truck drivers (76 percent) were
using their seat belts, compared with only one-half (49 percent) of
passenger vehicle drivers. The difference may account, in part, for the
disproportionate number of passenger vehicle drivers killed in crashes
with large trucks. In non-fatal crashes the belt use rates for large
truck and passenger vehicle drivers differ only slightly: 81 percent for
truck drivers and 85 percent for passenger vehicle drivers.

## Driver Alcohol Use

In two-vehicle fatal crashes between a large truck and a passenger
vehicle, a much larger percentage of the passenger vehicle drivers had
blood alcohol levels over 0.01 grams per deciliter (g/dl). In these
crashes, only 2 percent of the truck drivers had any level of alcohol in
their blood (Table 13), and only 0.6 percent had a blood alcohol content
(BAC) level greater than 0.10 g/dl, the legal limit in 35 States and the
District of Columbia. In contrast, 19 percent of the passenger vehicle
drivers had at least some alcohol in their blood, and 5.3 percent had
BAC levels above 0.10 g/dl.

Table 13. Driver Alcohol Use in Large Truck-Passenger Vehicle Crashes,
1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Driver BAC Level        Fatal Crashes           
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
                          Large Trucks            Passenger Vehicles

  0.00                    98.2%                   81.2%

  0.01 to 0.09            1.1%                    5.3%

  0.10 and Over           0.6%                    13.5%

  **Total Number**        **2,740**               **2,740**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: FARS, 1998.

In non-fatal crashes between a large truck and a passenger vehicle, no
alcohol was reported for the truck driver in 96.5 percent of the cases
and for the passenger vehicle driver in 96.8 percent of the cases---
both numbers being very high and almost identical. The non-fatal numbers
are based on police-reported alcohol involvement from GES and not on BAC
test results.

## Driver Crash Factors

Driver-related crash factors recorded by police officers at the scene
are included in FARS. The three tables that follow show: (1) a
comparison of driver-related factors cited for the drivers of large
trucks and passenger vehicles in fatal crashes involving one large truck
and one passenger vehicle (Table 14); (2) a comparison of factors cited
for the drivers of large trucks and passenger vehicles in single-vehicle
fatal crashes (Table 15); and (3) a list of driver-related factors cited
for passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes with other
passenger vehicles (Table 16). Passenger vehicles include passenger
cars, passenger vans, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles.

The FARS database includes 98 different driver-related crash factors. In
each of the three tables below, only 10 factors are listed. Tables 14
and 15 show the top 10 factors cited for truck drivers in each type of
crash, the percentage of truck drivers cited for each of the top 10
factors, and the corresponding percentages of passenger vehicle drivers
cited for the same factors. Table 16 shows the top 10 factors cited for
passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes between two passenger
vehicles. The FARS coders may include up to 4 driver-related factors for
each driver involved in a crash. The tables show the percentage of
drivers cited for each factor, whether that factor was the only one
listed for the driver or was the second, third, or fourth factor cited.
Thus, when the percentages for the factors cited are added, the total
may exceed the percentage of drivers with factors recorded. For example,
in Table 14, 82 percent of passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal
crashes with large trucks were assigned driver-related factors, but the
percentages of passenger vehicle drivers cited for each of the top 10
factors shown totals 98 percent.

The following is a list of the driver-related crash factors included in
the three tables, along with their descriptions in the FARS coding
manual:

-   **Driving Too Fast:** driving too fast for conditions, or in excess
    of posted maximum speed limit

-   **Ran Off Road/Out of Traffic Lane:** failure to keep in proper lane
    or running off road

-   **Failure To Yield Right-of-Way:** failure to yield to pedestrian,
    other vehicles, streetcar already in intersection

-   **Failure To Obey Traffic Devices:** failure to obey actual traffic
    sign, traffic control device, or traffic officer; failure to obey
    safety zone traffic laws

-   **Inattentive:** driver distracted by cigarette, children, adjusting
    radio and other devices, reading, talking, television, etc.

-   **Drowsy/Asleep:** drowsy, sleepy, asleep, fatigued not due to other
    factors, such as drugs

-   **Manslaughter, Homicide:** non-traffic violation charged
    (manslaughter or other homicide offense committed without malice)

-   **Erratic/Reckless Driving:** operating a vehicle in an erratic,
    reckless, careless or negligent manner; operating at erratic or
    suddenly changing speeds

-   **Following Improperly:** following too closely; vehicles in caravan
    too close to allow entry

-   **Vision Obscured by Weather:** vision obscured by rain, snow, fog,
    smoke, sand, dust

-   **Ice, Water, Snow on Road:** ice, snow, slush, water, sand, dirt,
    oil, wet leaves on road

-   **Over Correcting:** based on police officer judgment, with
    knowledge of driver's intention

-   **Hit and Run Vehicle Driver:** no explanation given

-   **Making Improper Turn:** too wide a right or left turn; unsafe
    U-turn

-   **Driving on Wrong Side of Road:** driving on wrong side of road
    intentionally or unintentionally.

In two-vehicle crashes involving a large truck and a passenger vehicle,
driver-related crash factors were cited by officers at the scene for 26
percent of the truck drivers involved (Table 14). The five individual
factors most frequently cited for the truck drivers were failure to
yield right-of-way (5 percent), ran off road or out of traffic lane (5
percent), driving too fast (4 percent), failure to obey traffic devices
(3 percent), and inattentive (3 percent). In contrast, police officers
cited driver-related crash factors for 82 percent of the passenger
vehicle drivers involved---more than three times the percentage for
truck drivers. The five factors most often cited for passenger vehicle
drivers were the same as those for the truck drivers, but the
percentages were much larger, ranging from 28 percent (running off road
or out of traffic lane) to 10 percent (inattentive). The percentages of
passenger vehicle drivers cited were higher for each of the 10 factors
shown, except manslaughter/homicide.

Table 14. Driver-Related Factors Cited in Two-Vehicle Fatal Crashes
Between Large Trucks and Passenger Vehicles, 1998

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Driver-Related Factors         Large Trucks         Passenger Vehicles
  ------------------------------ -------------------- --------------------
  Total Number of Drivers        2,740                2,740
  Involved                                            

  Driver Factor(s) Recorded:                          

  Yes                            26.4%                81.5%

  No                             73.6%                18.5%

  Top 10 Factors Cited:                               

  Failure To Yield Right-of-Way  5.3%                 20.3%

  Ran Off Road/Out of Traffic    4.8%                 27.8%
  Lane                                                

  Driving Too Fast               3.8%                 14.9%

  Failure To Obey Traffic        3.0%                 12.1%
  Devices                                             

  Inattentive                    2.7%                 9.8%

  Erratic/Reckless Driving       1.6%                 5.1%

  Manslaughter, Homicide         1.5%                 1.3%

  Following Improperly           1.4%                 2.1%

  Making Improper Turn           1.0%                 2.6%

  Vision Obscured by Weather     0.9%                 1.7%
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: FARS, 1998.

Whereas driver-related crash factors were coded for only 26 percent of
the drivers of large trucks in two-vehicle fatal crashes involving a
passenger vehicle, they were recorded for 72 percent of the truck
drivers in single-vehicle fatal crashes in 1998 (Table 15). For
passenger vehicle drivers in single-vehicle crashes, the corresponding
percentages were essentially the same---82 percent and 84 percent,
respectively. For drivers of both types of vehicles, the two most
frequently cited factors, by large margins, were ran off road or out of
traffic lane (40 percent of large trucks and 58 percent of passenger
vehicles) and driving too fast (20 percent of large trucks and 36
percent of passenger vehicles).

Fatigue-related factors were coded more often for drivers in
single-vehicle fatal crashes than for those in two-vehicle crashes. For
truck drivers, the third and fourth most frequently recorded factors
were inattentive (8 percent) and drowsy/asleep (7 percent), suggesting
that a significant number of the 803 single-vehicle fatal crashes for
large trucks were fatigue related. Inattentive (10 percent) and
drowsy/asleep (5 percent) were the third and sixth most frequently cited
driver-related crash factors for the 18,246 passenger vehicles involved
in single-vehicle fatal crashes.

Table 15. Driver-Related Factors in Single-Vehicle Fatal Crashes, 1998

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Driver-Related Factors         Large Trucks         Passenger Vehicles
  ------------------------------ -------------------- --------------------
  Total Number of Drivers        803                  18,246
  Involved                                            

  Driver Factor(s) Recorded:                          

  Yes                            71.7%                83.5%

  No                             28.3%                16.5%

  Top 10 Factors Cited:                               

  Ran Off Road/Out of Traffic    39.6%                57.7%
  Lane                                                

  Driving Too Fast               20.3%                36.2%

  Inattentive                    8.2%                 10.0%

  Drowsy/Asleep                  7.2%                 5.4%

  Erratic/Reckless Driving       5.9%                 8.1%

  Over Correcting                5.0%                 7.8%

  Failure To Yield Right-of-Way  4.5%                 2.4%

  Making Improper Turn           3.2%                 3.4%

  Failure To Obey Traffic        2.9%                 2.2%
  Devices                                             

  Hit and Run Vehicle Driver     1.5%                 3.2%
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: FARS, 1998.

Driver-related crash factors were recorded for 54 percent of passenger
vehicle drivers when only two passenger vehicles were involved in a
fatal crash (Table 16). The five most frequently cited factors for
passenger vehicle drivers in two-vehicle fatal crashes were the same
whether the other vehicle was a large truck or another passenger
vehicle: running off road or out of traffic lane, failure to yield
right-of-way, driving too fast, failure to obey traffic devices, and
inattentive.

As a note of caution, it should be pointed out that "related factor"
does not necessarily imply fault or cause. The second edition of the
MCSAFE safety update, published by the Analysis Division in November
1995, noted that related factors are merely the judgment of the officer
at the scene and are **not** based on a thorough evaluation of the crash
in an attempt to determine the cause of the crash. Some of the factors
in the tables above, such as manslaughter/homicide, are charges assessed
to drivers after the crash, not descriptions of behavior that may have
led to the crash.

Given this caveat, the FMCSA Analysis Division asked UMTRI to
investigate driver-related crash factors in light of other data
available on large truck fatal crashes. The result was an analysis
brief, "Driver-Related Factors in Crashes Between Large Trucks and
Passenger Vehicles," published in April 1999. The analysis found
evidence supporting the coding of crash-related factors in the 8,309
two-vehicle fatal crashes involving a large truck and a passenger
vehicle during 1994, 1995, and 1996. In 4,262 (51 percent) of the
crashes, physical evidence about the vehicles' maneuvers and positions
before the crash was available to help check the coding of
driver-related factors. In those cases, the coding appeared to be
consistent with the physical evidence.

For example, in the 1,936 head-on crashes (23 percent of the total), the
passenger car encroached into the travel lane of the truck in 1,724
crashes and the large truck crossed over into the travel lane of the
passenger vehicle in only 212. In the 1,724 crashes where the passenger
vehicle encroached, the passenger vehicle driver was cited for
driver-related factors in 98 percent of the crashes, and the truck
driver was cited in only 10 percent. In the 212 cases where the large
truck encroached, the truck driver was cited for driver‑related factors
in 93 percent of the crashes, and the passenger vehicle driver was cited
in only 9 percent. In the 49 percent of the two-vehicle fatal crash
cases for which there was not enough physical data to support or
contradict the coding of crash-related factors, the passenger vehicle
drivers also were coded with more driver-related crash factors than were
the drivers of the large trucks. Copies of this analysis brief are
available from the FMCSA Analysis Division.

A final caution is that fatal crashes accounted for less than 2 percent
of all large truck crashes in 1998. There are no national data on
driver-related crash factors in injury and property-damage-only crashes.

Table 16. Driver-Related Factors in Two-Vehicle Fatal Crashes Between
Passenger Vehicles, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Driver-Related Factors              Passenger Vehicles
  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
  Total Number of Drivers Involved    18,370

  Driver Factor(s) Recorded:          

  Yes                                 54.2%

  No                                  45.8%

  Top 10 Factors Cited:               

  Ran Off Road/Out of Traffic Lane    16.0%

  Failure To Yield Right-of-Way       16.0%

  Driving Too Fast                    10.2%

  Failure To Obey Traffic Devices     8.7%

  Inattentive                         6.1%

  Erratic/Reckless Driving            3.2%

  Driving on Wrong Side of Road       3.2%

  Manslaughter, Homicide              2.7%

  Making Improper Turn                1.7%

  Ice, Water, Snow on Road            1.5%
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: FARS, 1998.

# Environment

Most crashes involving large trucks occur in favorable weather
conditions, on dry pavement, during the day, and on a weekday. Passenger
vehicle crashes also occur overwhelmingly during good weather and on dry
pavement, but they are more likely to take place at night and on
weekends. In 1998, most fatal truck crashes took place on Interstate
highways or other principal arterial highways; however, the overwhelming
majority of fatal truck crashes (87 percent) occurred either on highways
that were not physically divided or on divided highway without lane
barriers.

## Weather and Road Surface Conditions

Only a small minority of fatal and non-fatal truck crashes in 1998
occurred during adverse weather conditions (Tables 17 and 18). For 83
percent of the trucks involved in fatal crashes, there were no adverse
weather conditions at the time of the crash. Similarly, according to GES
data, for 85 percent of the trucks involved in non-fatal crashes weather
conditions were good at the time of the crash. The MCMIS number is lower
at 69 percent, but the 6 percent missing data in the MCMIS Crash File
probably accounts for some of the difference between MCMIS and the other
two databases. For 10 percent of the trucks involved in fatal crashes
and 12 to 13 percent of those involved in non-fatal crashes, rain was
present. Snow ranks a distant second as a crash site adverse weather
condition.

Table 17. Large Trucks in Crashes by Weather Condition, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Weather Condition          Fatal: FARS    Non-Fatal      
  -------------------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
                                            MCMIS          GES

  No Adverse Conditions      83.0%          69.4%          84.5%

  Rain                       10.3%          13.1%          11.9%

  Snow                       2.2%           3.2%           1.9%

  Fog                        2.9%           1.5%           0.8%

  Sleet, Hail                0.5%           0.9%           0.3%

  Other                      0.9%           5.5%           0.5%

  Unknown                    0.2%           0.6%           \--

  Missing                    \--            5.9%           \--

  **Total Number**           **4,935**      **93,308**     **407,000**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

The data in Table 18 data are consistent with those in Table 17. For
more than three-fourths of trucks involved in fatal crashes and in
GES-reported non-fatal crashes in 1998, the crashes occurred on dry
pavement. For two-thirds of the trucks involved in non-fatal crashes
reported in the MCMIS Crash File, the crashes took place on dry
pavement. Wet pavement was cited for 16 percent of trucks involved in
fatal crashes and for 17 to 18 percent of trucks involved in non-fatal
crashes, and ice was cited for 2 to 3 percent of trucks involved in
fatal and non-fatal crashes.

Table 18. Large Trucks in Crashes by Road Surface Condition, 1998

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Road Surface Condition      Fatal: FARS    Non-Fatal      
  --------------------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
                                             MCMIS          GES

  Dry                         79.8%          67.7%          79.2%

  Wet                         16.4%          17.4%          17.6%

  Ice                         2.2%           2.9%           1.9%

  Snow or Slush               1.4%           2.2%           1.2%

  Sand, Mud, Dirt, or Oil     0.0%           0.2%           0.0%

  Other                       0.1%           0.2%           0.1%

  Unknown                     0.1%           3.4%           \--

  Missing                     \--            5.9%           \--

  **Total Number**            **4,935**      **93,308**     **407,000**
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

## Light Conditions, Time of Day, and Day of Week

The following three tables provide data on light conditions when large
truck crashes occurred, the time of day, and the day of the week. A
large majority of fatal truck crashes take place during the day (Table
19), whereas almost half of passenger vehicle fatal crashes occur at
night. Passenger vehicle fatal crashes are also more likely to occur on
weekend days than are fatal truck crashes.

Table 19. Large Trucks in Crashes by Light Condition, 1998

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Light Condition       Fatal: FARS      Non-Fatal        
  --------------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
                                         MCMIS            GES

  Daylight              66.0%            67.0%            79.5%

  Dark - not lighted    22.5%            12.8%            7.9%

  Dark - lighted        6.9%             6.4%             8.8%

  Dawn                  3.0%             2.8%             1.6%

  Dusk                  1.5%             2.1%             2.2%

  Unknown/Missing       0.4%             3.3%             \--

  **Total Number**      **4,935**        **93,308**       **407,000**
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

For 66 percent of the large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 1998,
the crash took place during daylight conditions. For trucks in non-fatal
crashes, 67 percent of the crashes in the MCMIS file and 80 percent of
those in GES took place in daylight (Table 20). For 69 percent of the
trucks involved in fatal crashes the crash occurred between 6:00 a.m.
and 6:00 p.m---daytime business hours plus commuting time. NHTSA defines
daytime as beginning at 6:00 a.m. and ending at 5:59 p.m. Night begins
at 6:00 p.m. and extends until 5:59 a.m. The daytime (6:00 a.m. to 5:59
p.m.) figures for trucks in non-fatal crashes are higher than for those
in fatal crashes: 75 percent in the MCMIS Crash File and 80 percent in
the GES file.

Table 20. Large Trucks in Crashes by Time of Day, 1998

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Time                  Fatal: FARS      Non-Fatal        
  --------------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
                                         MCMIS            GES

  12:00 - 2:59 am       6.7%             4.8%             3.6%

  3:00 - 5:59 am        8.6%             6.4%             3.7%

  6:00 - 8:59 am        15.0%            16.7%            15.3%

  9:00 - 11:59 am       18.0%            19.8%            21.6%

  12:00 - 2:59 pm       19.0%            20.4%            23.4%

  3:00 - 5:59 pm        16.6%            17.9%            19.8%

  6:00 - 8:59 pm        9.2%             8.0%             8.4%

  9:00 - 11:59 pm       6.9%             5.8%             4.2%

  Unknown               0.1%             0.2%             \--

  **Total Number**      **4,935**        **93,308**       **407,000**
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

For 31 percent of trucks involved in fatal crashes the crash took place
during the night, but for passenger vehicles in fatal crashes 45 percent
of the crashes occurred at night. The difference is smaller for
non-fatal crashes: night-time crashes were recorded in the GES file for
20 percent of the large trucks and for 27 percent of the passenger cars
in non-fatal crashes.

For large trucks involved in both fatal and non-fatal crashes, most of
the crashes occurred during the five working days of the week; only 15
percent of the fatal crashes and 10 to 20 percent of the non-fatal
crashes took place on weekends (Table 21). In contrast, the
corresponding percentages of weekend crashes for passenger vehicles were
33 percent for those involved in fatal crashes and 22 percent for those
in non-fatal crashes.

Table 21. Large Trucks in Crashes by Day of Week, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Day                  Fatal: FARS      Non-Fatal        
  -------------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
                                        MCMIS            GES

  Sunday               5.7%             4.7%             3.6%

  Monday               16.8%            17.6%            17.7%

  Tuesday              17.4%            18.3%            17.9%

  Wednesday            17.8%            18.0%            18.8%

  Thursday             16.0%            17.5%            17.2%

  Friday               17.4%            17.0%            18.2%

  Saturday             8.9%             7.1%             6.6%

  **Total Number**     **4,935**        **93,308**       **407,000**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

## Roadway Types

The FARS database contains information on the types of roadways and
trafficways on which fatal crashes occur. The MCMIS Crash File contains
data only on the type of trafficway. The two tables below present data
on the two variables. According to the Federal Highway Administration's
*Highway Statistics 1998*, 41 percent of all large truck miles traveled
and 50 percent of combination truck miles traveled in 1997 were on
Interstate highways. In contrast, for large trucks involved in fatal
crashes in 1998, only 26 percent of the crashes occurred on Interstate
highways (Table 22). Interstates are the safest roadways in the Nation,
both for trucks and for other vehicles.

Table 22. Large Trucks in Fatal Crashes by Type of Roadway, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Roadway Type                        Percent of Total
  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
  Interstate Highway                  25.6%

  Other Principal Arterial            36.7%

  Minor Arterial                      17.1%

  Collector                           13.1%

  Local Road/Street                   6.2%

  Unknown/Missing                     1.3%

  **Total Number**                    **4,935**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: FARS, 1998.

Other principal arterial highways accounted for more than one-third (37
percent) of trucks in fatal crashes in 1998. Many of these highways are
high-quality divided highways, but many others are not divided and do
not have controlled access, both conditions that make them more
dangerous than Interstate highways.

For more than one-half (56 percent) of all trucks involved in fatal
crashes in 1998 the crashes took place on highways that were not
physically divided (Table 23). When divided highways without barriers
are included, 87 percent of the trucks involved in fatal crashes were
operating on highways where the opposing lanes were not separated by
barriers. In contrast, the MCMIS Crash File data show that for only 35
percent of all trucks involved in non-fatal crashes the crash occurred
on highways that were not physically divided, and 23 percent occurred on
divided highways that did not have a barrier---a total of 58 percent
(however, for 22 percent of the trucks in the MCMIS file the type of
trafficway was not recorded). The GES figure for undivided highways was
45 percent of trucks involved in non-fatal crashes.

Table 23. Large Trucks in Crashes by Type of Trafficway, 1998

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Trafficway Type           Fatal: FARS     Non-Fatal       
  ------------------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
                                            MCMIS           GES

  Not Physically Divided    55.8%           34.9%           45.2%

  Divided Highway Without   31.2%           23.0%           36.2%
  Barrier                                                   

  Divided Highway With      11.7%           17.1%           
  Barrier                                                   

  One-Way Trafficway        0.6%            3.5%            3.4%

  Missing/Unknown           0.6%            21.5%           15.2%

  **Total Number**          **4,935**       **93,308**      **407,000**
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

# Crashes

Most fatal truck crashes in 1998 took place in rural areas. The first
crash event, as well as the first harmful event, in the majority of
fatal and non-fatal truck crashes was a collision with another vehicle
in transport. The impact area in most fatal crashes was the front of the
truck. The impact area in non-fatal crashes was more evenly distributed
to all sides of the truck. This section covers crash location in terms
of population density, the events that happened during the crashes, and
the point of impact on the trucks.

## Geographic Location

For 67 percent of the trucks involved in fatal crashes in 1998, the
crashes took place in rural areas. In a large majority of States,
however, the individual counties with the highest number of fatal and
non-fatal crashes were predominantly urban in character. This is
possible because rural counties outnumber urban counties in nearly all
States. For example, the counties in Texas with the most fatal crashes
were urban counties that include the major cities of Houston, Dallas,
Forth Worth, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso; however, most fatal
crashes occurred in the State's 200 rural counties.

## Crash Events

The first harmful and most harmful events are coded in the FARS and GES
databases for each crash. The MCMIS Crash File records the first and up
to three subsequent events (not necessarily harmful) that happened to
the truck involved in the crash. The first and most harmful events in
FARS and GES are, therefore, defined differently from the first and
subsequent events in MCMIS. To decide on first and most harmful events,
the reporting officer or FARS analyst must make a judgment as to which
crash events were significant and which were not. Asking the reporting
officer to record the first, second, third, and fourth events that
happened to a truck involved in a crash usually does not require the
officer to make a judgment call. The officer only has to record the
events that happened to the truck in the sequence they happened. Even
so, there are strong similarities in the results from the two approaches
(Table 24).

For almost four-fifths (79 percent) of large trucks involved in fatal
crashes and almost three-fourths (74 percent) of large trucks involved
in non-fatal crashes, the first harmful event was a collision between
the truck and another vehicle in transit, according to the FARS and GES
databases, respectively (Table 24). According to the MCMIS Crash File,
for 58 percent of the trucks involved in a non-fatal crash, the first
crash event was a collision between the truck and another vehicle in
traffic, usually a passenger vehicle.

The main reason that the MCMIS percentage for collision with a vehicle
in transport is much lower than the FARS and GES numbers is that the
first event codes in MCMIS include "ran off road" and "cargo loss or
shift," neither of which is counted as a harmful event in FARS and GES.
However, these events may be the first in a chain that leads to a crash.
Together these two first events---plus jackknife, which is not counted
as a harmful event in FARS---accounted for 15 percent of the trucks
involved in non-fatal crashes in the MCMIS Crash File. Ran off the road
alone accounted for 12 percent of the MCMIS cases, second behind
collision with a vehicle in transport and much more common than the
third-place event, collision with a fixed object (3 percent of the
trucks involved in non-fatal crashes).

Table 24. Large Trucks in Crashes by First Harmful Event or First Crash
Event, 1998

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  First Event                  Fatal: FARS    Non-Fatal      
  ---------------------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
                                              MCMIS          GES

  Collision With Vehicle in    78.8%          55.3%          73.6%
  Transport                                                  

  Collision With Fixed Object  7.3%           3.2%           9.6%

  Collision With Pedestrian    6.2%           0.5%           0.2%

  Overturn (Rollover)          4.2%           3.3%           2.6%

  Collision With Pedalcycle    1.1%           0.1%           0.1%

  Collision With Parked Motor  0.7%           1.5%           7.1%
  Vehicle                                                    

  Collision With Train         0.5%           0.2%           0.1%

  Collision With Other Object  0.6%           1.0%           0.5%

  Collision With Animal        0.2%           0.7%           0.8%

  Ran Off Road                 \*             11.5%          \*

  Jackknife                    \*             2.4%           0.6%

  Cargo Loss or Shift          \*             1.3%           \*

  Explosion/Fire               0.0%           0.4%           0.1%

  Other                        0.5%           8.9%           4.6%

  Missing                      \--            9.8%           \--

  **Total Number**             **4,935**      **93,308**     **407,000**
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

\*These crash events are not coded in FARS or GES.

Sources: FARS, MCMIS Crash File, and GES, 1998.

For trucks involved in fatal crashes, the second-ranked first harmful
event was a collision with a fixed object (7 percent). The third most
common event was collision with a pedestrian (6 percent), according to
FARS. When a truck collides with a pedestrian, there is a fairly large
chance that the result will be a fatality or serious injury. In such
crashes the pedestrian killed is usually walking in the road, improperly
crossing the trafficway, or darting into the road.

For GES non-fatal crashes, collision with a fixed object ranked second
(10 percent) behind collision with a vehicle in transport, and collision
with a parked vehicle was third (7 percent). Collision with a pedestrian
was the first harmful event for only 0.2 percent of the large trucks in
GES non-fatal crashes and for 0.5 percent in MCMIS non-fatal crashes.

## Type of Crash

The point of impact on vehicles involved in crashes can shed important
light on the crashes. Unlike most of the tables in this profile, where
fatal and non-fatal crash data are similar, there is a marked contrast
between the two columns in Table 25. The front of the truck was the
initial impact area for 62 percent of trucks involved in fatal crashes
but for only 30 percent of the trucks involved in non-fatal crashes.
Side impact crashes are much more prevalent in non-fatal truck crashes,
accounting for nearly one-half (46 percent) of all the trucks involved.
Rear impact crashes are about the same for fatal and non-fatal crashes,
and non-collision crashes, such as rollovers, are more common in
non-fatal crashes.

Table 25. Large Trucks in Crashes by Initial Impact Area, 1998

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Impact Area             Fatal                   Non-Fatal
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
  Front                   62.0%                   29.6%

  Rear                    14.4%                   15.7%

  Left Side               9.8%                    20.4%

  Right Side              6.4%                    25.4%

  Non-collision           2.8%                    7.5%

  Other/Unknown           4.5%                    1.5%

  **Total Number**        **4,935**               **407,000**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS and GES, 1998.

When large trucks collided with passenger vehicles in fatal crashes in
1998, the front was the initial impact area for more than 60 percent of
both vehicles. Thus, in a majority of the crashes, for both large trucks
and passenger vehicles, the crash took place in the forward vision of
the drivers. There is a large difference, however, in the back of the
vehicle as an initial impact point. For large trucks the rear was the
initial point of impact in 14 percent of the fatal crashes and 16
percent of the non-fatal crashes. For passenger vehicles the rear was
the initial crash impact area for only 6 percent of those in fatal
crashes but for 21 percent of those in non-fatal crashes. Thus, it is
more than twice as likely in fatal crashes between large trucks and
passenger vehicles that the truck is struck in the rear than that the
passenger vehicle is struck in the rear. In non-fatal crashes the
passenger vehicle is more likely to be struck in the rear than is the
truck.

# Motor Carriers

The MCMIS Crash File collects data on whether the motor carrier
operating each vehicle involved in a crash was an interstate or
intrastate carrier. For 1998 a total of 79 percent of the trucks
involved in crashes were operated by interstate motor carriers. From
1994 through 1997 the percentage of trucks in the MCMIS Crash File
operated by interstate carriers varied from 72 percent to 78 percent.

The only national crash database that identifies truck and bus motor
carriers by name is the MCMIS Crash File. As of January 4, 2000, the
MCMIS database contained information on 105,718 trucks and buses
involved in crashes that occurred in 1998 as reported by the States. The
file also contains data on 108,000 vehicles involved in crashes in 1997,
more than 103,000 for 1996, more than 90,000 for 1995, more than 80,000
for 1994, and fewer for 1993 and 1992. A large majority of all vehicles
are identified by the operating motor carrier at the time of the crash.

Crash data play a vital role in measuring motor carrier safety. FMCSA
has developed a data-based motor carrier safety status analysis method,
SafeStat, to guide motor carrier selection for safety compliance reviews
conducted at carrier facilities. All interstate motor carriers for which
FMCSA has a sufficient amount of safety data receive a SafeStat score.
Safety data are collected on carrier crashes, roadside vehicle and
driver safety inspections, previous carrier safety compliance reviews,
safety enforcement case history, and other indicators. Thirty-six
percent of the carrier score is based on crashes in the MCMIS Crash
File. FMCSA field staff conduct compliance reviews on the motor carriers
with the worst SafeStat scores.

To guide roadside vehicle and driver inspections, an Inspection
Selection System (ISS) has been developed. The ISS has been revised to
match the SafeStat system which, as noted above, relies heavily on MCMIS
Crash File data. The only difference is the addition of a factor for any
carrier that has never had a roadside inspection, or has not had one in
a long time. When trucks and buses pull into roadside inspection
stations, State personnel are able to enter the carrier identification
number into a computer and receive an ISS score for the carrier. The
vehicles and drivers of those carriers with high ISS scores, indicating
a bad safety record, are selected more often for roadside safety
inspections than are the vehicles of carriers with low scores.

# MCMIS Crash File Progress

As noted in the introduction to this profile, FMCSA received crash
reports on an estimated 66 percent of the large trucks involved in
crashes in 1998 that met the NGA criteria for a reportable crash. One
way to estimate how well each State is doing in reporting crashes to
FMCSA is to compare the FARS numbers for large trucks involved in fatal
crashes with the MCMIS Crash File numbers. FARS is considered a reliable
data source for all fatal crashes, including fatal truck crashes. If the
number of trucks involved in fatal crashes in the MCMIS Crash File is
close to the FARS number for a State, that State is reporting almost all
fatal truck crashes to FMCSA.

The FARS and MCMIS numbers need not match exactly. The two databases use
slightly different definitions for a truck. For FARS a vehicle is a
large truck if it has a GVWR over 10,000 pounds. For the MCMIS Crash
File a truck must be designed, used, or maintained primarily for
carrying property and must have at least two axles and six tires. Even
with this difference in definitions, the FARS and MCMIS Crash File
numbers should be very close.

Table 26 provides a State-by-State comparison of the MCMIS Crash File
numbers for large trucks involved in fatal crashes with FARS numbers for
large trucks involved in fatal crashes. The table includes the 50 States
and the District of Columbia but excludes the five United States
territories--- Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern
Marianas, and American Samoa.

Table 26 shows that, in total, the States reported 77 percent of the
truck numbers recorded in FARS. Only 21 States reported numbers that
were within 10 percent of the FARS numbers. These included big States,
such as Pennsylvania and Texas, and small States such as Delaware and
Wyoming. On the other hand, 10 States reported less than 50 percent of
the FARS numbers. These States also included large ones, such as
California and Ohio, and small ones, such as Nevada and New Mexico.
Louisiana failed to report a single fatal truck crash to MCMIS, whereas
FARS recorded 140 large trucks in the State as being involved in fatal
crashes.

Table 26. Large Trucks in 1998 Fatal Crashes by State: FARS vs. MCMIS

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  State            FARS      MCMIS     State            FARS        MCMIS
  ---------------- --------- --------- ---------------- ----------- -----------
  Alabama          149       150       Montana          18          16

  Alaska           1         0         Nebraska         41          43

  Arizona          98        44        Nevada           34          10

  Arkansas         105       112       New Hampshire    10          10

  California       365       151       New Jersey       64          17

  Colorado         52        47        New Mexico       44          8

  Connecticut      29        18        New York         134         140

  Delaware         18        19        North Carolina   228         192

  District of      1         1         North Dakota     8           7
  Columbia                                                          

  Florida          317       209       Ohio             189         80

  Georgia          195       154       Oklahoma         106         61

  Hawaii           4         3         Oregon           68          65

  Idaho            23        26        Pennsylvania     178         161

  Illinois         185       155       Rhode Island     3           2

  Indiana          179       128       South Carolina   118         134

  Iowa             83        80        South Dakota     14          14

  Kansas           79        74        Tennessee        136         82

  Kentucky         97        94        Texas            422         391

  Louisiana        140       0         Utah             44          56

  Maine            21        12        Vermont          10          9

  Maryland         65        70        Virginia         109         66

  Massachusetts    37        32        Washington       69          46

  Michigan         147       140       West Virginia    41          25

  Minnesota        78        96        Wisconsin        90          92

  Mississippi      104       69        Wyoming          30          29

  Missouri         155       154       **Total**        **4,935**   **3,794**
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources: FARS and MCMIS Crash File, 1998.