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Compiled by Lyndon Finney, John Worthen, and The Associated Press
Sometimes, the news coming out of the nation’s capital is good, sometimes not so good, and sometimes it’s just bad. The latter was
the case recently, as it involves traffic fatalities, including those involving large trucks. First, the U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) reported a spike in traffic fatalities in the first half of 2021. Second, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
said fatal wrecks involving large trucks are increasing. While on the subject of these two entities, in this edition of Capitol Recap we’ll
share more about how FMCSA Deputy Administrator Meera Joshi convened a stakeholder meeting in the Midwest to discuss truck driving
and supply-chain issues and cybersecurity flaws the U.S. Department of Transportation identified on servers belonging to the agency. Keeping
with the safety-related issues, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance released its brake safety week results.
RECENT REPORTS SHOW TRAFFIC FATALITY SPIKE,
MORE TRUCKS INVOLVED IN FATAL CRASHES
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently released
safety-related data concerning fatal accidents.
NHTSA revealed the Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities
for January-June, which shows the largest six-month increase ever
recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s (FARS) history.
The FMCSA said in the recently updated Large Truck and Bus facts
that in 2019, 5,237 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal crashes,
a 2% increase from 2018. The FMCSA defines large trucks as weighing
more than 10,000 pounds.
NHTSA said an estimated 20,160 people died in motor vehicle crashes
in the first half of 2021, up 18.4% over 2020. That’s the largest number
of projected fatalities in that time period since 2006.
“This is a crisis. More than 20,000 people died on U.S. roads in the
first six months of 2021, leaving countless loved ones behind. We
cannot and should not accept these fatalities as simply a part of everyday
life in America,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Today
we are announcing that we will produce the department’s first ever
National Roadway Safety Strategy to identify action steps for everyone
working to save lives on the road. No one will accomplish this alone. It
will take all levels of government, industries, advocates, engineers, and
communities across the country working together toward the day when
family members no longer have to say goodbye to loved ones because
of a traffic crash.”
In addition to the traffic fatality data, NHTSA also released behavioral
research findings from March 2020 through June 2021, indicating that
incidents of speeding and traveling without a seatbelt remain higher
than during pre-pandemic times.
Preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration show
that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the first half of 2021 increased by
about 173.1 billion miles, or about 13%. The fatality rate for the first
half of 2021 increased to 1.34 fatalities per 100 million VMT, up from
the projected rate of 1.28 fatalities per 100 million VMT in the first half
of 2020.
The FMCSA said that from 2018 to 2019, large truck and bus fatalities
per 100 million vehicle miles traveled by all motor vehicles declined
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, left, calls rising traffic deaths a crisis and calls for
cooperation among all levels of government, industry, and advocacy to change course.
from 0.162 to 0.161, 21% below the 21st-century peak of 0.205 in 2000.
There was a 34% decrease in the number of fatal crashes involving
large trucks or buses between 2005 and 2009, followed by an increase
of 47% between 2009 and 2019, the report states.
From 2018 to 2019, the number of fatal crashes involving large trucks
or buses increased by less than 1%.
Of the 4,949 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2019,
354 (7%) were 25 years of age or younger, and 361 (7%) were 66 years
of age or older.
In 2019, 13% (795) of large truck occupants in fatal crashes were
not wearing a safety belt, of which 337 (42%) were killed in the crash.
In contrast, only 393 (8%) of the 4,712 large truck occupants wearing
safety belts in fatal crashes were killed. Nine percent of the 4,949 drivers
of large trucks involved in fatal crashes (454) were not wearing a safety
belt at the time of the crash.
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