The United States has a lot of roadways. It also has a busy society with people driving a lot. There are also many large vehicles on the roads, including trucks and buses.
Looking at facts about accidents involving large trucks and buses can help you to learn more about road safety and how to interact with these vehicles to help keep everyone safer.
Fatal accident facts
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, fatal crashes involving large trucks or buses increased by 1% from 2017 to 2018. The total number was 5,096, which is not the highest number since 2000. That was in 2005 with 5,231 fatal crashes involving these large vehicles.
What is most alarming about accidents involving large trucks and buses is that when someone dies, it is almost always the occupant of the other vehicle.
Crash facts
While not every accident makes its way into a police report, there were almost 500,000 crashes reported to law enforcement in 2018. Of these, about 107,000 involved injuries and a little under 4,500 involved fatalities.
Many accidents happened on interstate highways, but you might be surprised to learn rural roads were the location of most of these accidents. In fact, 57%, more than half, occurred on rural roads.
You also probably could guess that the time of day for most of the fatal accidents was in the evening or early morning during non-daylight hours. Accidents also typically happen on weekdays, both fatal and nonfatal.
Causes facts
Most of the time an accident happens when two vehicles collide, but about 4% of fatal crashes are a result of a rollover accident. Work zone accidents were also common.
