Large, over-the-road tractor-trailers are dangerous. According to the most recent data – the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) compiled each year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – 3,757 people were killed in commercial trucking accidents in 2011.
However, a recent study finds that accidents involving smaller commercial vehicles are responsible for an even higher rate of fatalities.
On June 5, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a summary of a study it conducted on single-unit trucks. Commonly known as straight trucks, and often times used for local deliveries, the NTSB categorizes single-unit trucks as having a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds, all axles attached to a single frame, and cargo units attached to the truck cab.
Straight-Truck Accidents Kill 1,800 People Each Year
The agency reviewed accidents involving single-unit trucks between 2005 and 2009 and found that:
- Straight trucks account for 3 percent of registered motor vehicles but are involved in 9 percent of the deaths of passenger vehicle occupants in multi-vehicle accidents.
- All totaled, approximately 1,800 individuals were killed each year in straight-truck accidents.
- There could be even more catastrophic consequences from single-unit truck crashes. Researchers say that 19 percent of the smaller trucks in fatal crashes were classified incorrectly so their deadly effects were underreported during the study period.
- Drivers of single-unit trucks in fatal accidents were three times more likely to be operating without a valid license compared to tractor-trailer drivers.
The NTSB has no power to mandate safety changes but, based on this study, made a number of recommendations to other federal agencies that do. These include requiring commercial driver’s licenses for all straight-truck drivers and mandatory guards to prevent passenger vehicles from underriding these commercial vehicles.
While not as large as tractor-trailers, straight trucks nonetheless pose significant dangers to others on the road. Like negligent large-truck owners and companies, owners and operators of smaller commercial vehicles in catastrophic accidents must be accountable to their victims.