U.S. DOT: Fatal truck crashes on the decline

A new report from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revealed fatal crashes involving large trucks fell 3.7 percent year-over-year in 2014.    The number of fatal crashes involving large trucks fell 3.7 percent year-over-year in 2014, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
   Findings from the FMCSA’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2014 revealed the injury crash rate for large trucks totaled 0.29 per 100 million miles during the year, while the injury crash rate for passenger vehicles totals 0.58 per 100 million miles.
   In addition, the number of large trucks involved in fatal crashes fell 5 percent year-over-year in 2014 to 3,744 fatal crashes.
   “While the one-year decline being reported by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is positive, the long-term trend is of paramount importance, and that trend is impressive,” American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves said in a statement. “The number of crashes involving large trucks had fallen 39 percent since 2004 and, while there is much more to do, that is a figure our professional drivers, our safety directors, our technicians and our safety partners in federal and state law enforcement can be proud of.”