In 2022, 5,837 large trucks were involved in a fatal crash, an 1.8% increase from 2021 and a 49% increase in the last 10 years. The involvement rate per 100 million large-truck miles traveled is up 3% from 2021, and up 24% in the last 10 years. Large trucks are defined as any medium or heavy truck, not including buses and motor homes, with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds. Both commercial and non-commercial vehicles are included.
Large trucks accounted for:
- 6% of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes
- 10% of total vehicle miles traveled
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Also in 2022, 120,200 large trucks were involved in crashes resulting in an injury, a 2.5% increase from 2021. Since 2016, the number of trucks involved in injury crashes has increased 18% and the involvement rate per 100 million large truck miles driven has increased 5.7% to 37. Starting with the 2016 data year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began using a new Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) to estimate the number of nonfatal crashes. CRSS uses a different sampling design than previous estimates and is not directly comparable to earlier data years.
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*2016 – 2022 injury estimates are not comparable to previous years.
A total of 5,936 people died in large-truck crashes in 2022. The number of deaths increased 2% from 2021 and is up 49% in the last 10 years. The majority of deaths in large-truck crashes are occupants of other vehicles (70%), followed by truck occupants (19%), and non-occupants, primarily pedestrians and bicyclists (11%).
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The number of injuries in large-truck crashes increased 3.9% in 2022, to 161,000. As with deaths in large-truck crashes, most of the injuries occurred to occupants of other vehicles (73%), followed by truck occupants (26%) and non-occupants (1%).
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*2016 – 2022 injury estimates are not comparable to previous years.
The infographic summarizes several key facts related to fatal crashes involving large trucks in 2022. More than half of fatal large-truck crashes occurred on rural roads and about a quarter on interstates. Sixty-one percent of the crashes happened during daylight hours, and 4.6% happened in construction zones. The peak month for fatal truck crashes was September and October, while February had the fewest crashes.
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Sources:
National Safety Council (NSC) analysis of NHTSA’s CRSS and Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data files.