Traffic fatalities involving large trucks continue to drop

New data from the federal government reveals that traffic fatalities involving large trucks went down in the first half of the year, bucking a deadly trend that dates back more than a decade.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 2,523 traffic fatalities involving at least one large truck in the first half of 2024. That was a 1% decrease compared to the first half of 2023.

Fewer traffic fatalities involving large trucks are a welcome statistic, as that number has been trending upward since at least 2009. NHTSA’s latest finalized data shows that traffic deaths involving large trucks increased in 2022 despite numbers in most categories decreasing.

However, there are signs that the upward trend of traffic fatalities involving large trucks is reversing.

Preliminary numbers indicate there were 8% fewer deaths involving large trucks for all of 2023, one of the largest improvements across all categories.

In addition, traffic fatalities are decreasing across nearly all categories. Since 2009, traffic deaths have been trending downward, with relatively large increases in 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2021. The latter two increases were likely the result of changes in driving behaviors, travel patterns and transportation options caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first half of 2024, significant decreases in traffic fatalities were seen in the following categories:

• Out-of-state travel (down 12%)
• Ejected (down 9%)
• Urban interstates (down 8%)
• Ages 55-64 (down 8%)
• Unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants (down 7%)
• Passenger vehicles less than 10 years old (down 7%)
• Total passengers (down 7%)
• Passenger vehicle occupants (down 6%)
• Passenger vehicle rollover (down 6%)
• Speeding-related (down 6%)

There were only two increases in traffic fatalities when drilling down to sub-categories: ages 65 and older (1%) and motorcyclists (1%). There were no virtually no changes on rural interstates and among ages 35-44.

NHTSA’s latest traffic fatalities report expands on its September report of overall fatalities for the second half of 2024, which reveals a 3% decrease compared to the first six months of last year. Combined with an increase in vehicle miles traveled, the fatality rate (fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled) dropped from 1.21 in the second half of 2023 to 1.17. LL