Safety Message: Truck-Involved Fatalities Drop Significantly

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 2009 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) shows that great strides were made to reduce the rate of fatalities and injuries associated with light and large trucks.

The fatality and injury rates of large-truck occupants dropped 26 percent each! This marks the largest reduction of people killed in any vehicle category and the largest reduction of injuries among all measured groups. Light-truck occupant fatalities fell for the fourth consecutive year, reaching a 12-year low.

There was also a 20 percent reduction of all fatalities associated with crashes involving large trucks. According to the 2009 FARS, 3,380 people were killed in these crashes, compared to 4,245 in 2008. In 2009, 600 fewer occupants in other vehicles were killed in crashes involving large trucks, compared to the previous year.

I would like to congratulate each of you. Even when the poor economy was encouraging you to cut costs and corners, you didn’t. Your efforts to increase safety awareness and prevent losses are paying off. The 2009 FARS shows that the roads are getting safer.

However, our work is not done. Now that we are seeing an improvement in load volume and miles, and there are more vehicles back on the highway, we must continue to promote safety on the road and reduce truck-related fatalities and injuries even more. It is our responsibility to make sure all of our drivers reach their destination and return home safely, each and every time.

Keep up the good work!

Yours in Safety,

Dennis Shinault, CDS
Director of Loss Prevention

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