Crashes Cause Majority of On-the-Job Deaths for Truck Drivers

by Jana Ritter - Published: 3/18/2015

The headlines always bring attention to the motorist fatalities in trucking related accidents, but there is far less focus on the other tragic reality of the many truck drivers who lose their lives in these accidents as well. In fact, truck drivers take a much higher risk going out on the road everyday simply to do their job and its no surprise that vehicle crashes were found to cause the overwhelming majority of on-the-job deaths for truck drivers nationwide.

                                             

According to a recent Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 317,000 motor vehicle crashes involving large trucks reported to police in 2012, a significant increase since the 35-year low reported in 2009. There are approximately 2.6 million truck drivers in the US that drive trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds and approximately 700 drivers of large trucks or their passengers died in crashes in 2012 alone. This means that nearly 65 percent of on-the-job deaths of truck drivers in 2012 were the result of a motor vehicle crash. Not including the estimated 26,000truck drivers and/or their passenger who were injured in accidents that year. However, it was also found that over a third of the drivers who died were not wearing a seat belt. "We know that using a seat belt is the single most effective intervention to prevent injury or death in a motor vehicle crash. However, in 2012 more than 1 in 3 truck drivers who died in crashes were not buckled up, a simple step which could have prevented up to 40 percent of these deaths," CDC Principal Deputy Director Ileana Arias explains.

The Vital Signs report also included data from the National Survey of US Long-Haul Truck Driver Health and Injury, which was conducted by CDC at 32 truck stops along interstate highways across the United States during 2010. The survey found that an estimated 14 percent of long-haul truck drivers admitted to not using a seat belt on every trip. It was also found that long-haul truck drivers who resided in a state with a primary seat belt law that allows police to stop motorists for being unbelted, were also the truck drivers who reported using a seat belt more often. Other key finding indicate that long-haul truck drivers who reported not wearing seat belts were also more likely to work for an employer that did not have a written workplace safety program and were also more likely to engage in other unsafe driving behaviors such as speeding and committing moving violations.

“Employers and government agencies at all levels can help improve truck driver safety and increase seat belt use among truck drivers by having strong company safety programs and enforcing state and federal laws. The smartest strategy for overall safety is to prevent truck crashes from happening in the first place,” advises Stephanie Pratt, PhD, coordinator of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Center for Motor Vehicle Safety.  

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