In a single recent year, 3,964 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks in the United States, accounting for 9 percent of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes. Roughly 342,000 large trucks were involved in traffic crashes. (NHTSA)
That year, 71 percent of the large truck accident fatalities were occupants of other vehicles, 11 percent were not in a vehicle and 17 percent were occupants of large trucks. (NHTSA)
In the United States in a single recent year, 95,000 people were injured in accidents involving large trucks, a decrease from the 104,000 injured in the previous year. 72 percent of those injured in large truck accidents were occupants of other vehicles, 25 percent were occupants of large trucks and 2 percent were not in vehicles. (NHTSA)
Large trucks are more likely to be part of a fatal multi-vehicle crash, rather than a fatal single-vehicle crash. 80 percent of large truck fatal crashes are multi-vehicle accidents, compared to 58 percent of accidents involving only passenger vehicles. In 45 percent of two-vehicle fatal accidents, both the large truck and the other vehicle were proceeding straight at the time of the incident. In 8 percent of the crashes, the other vehicle was turning. In 28 percent, either the truck or the other vehicle was turning. In 6 percent of fatal accidents, either the truck or the other vehicle was stopped or parked in a traffic lane. (NHTSA)
