People

This chapter contains information on drivers of large trucks in fatal, injury, and property damage only crashes and on people killed or injured in large truck crashes. Some statistics are also listed for passenger vehicle drivers in order to make comparisons. It is important to note that the number of large truck drivers in crashes is not exactly equal to the number of large trucks in crashes, because no driver information is provided for some crashes. Below is a summary of some of the information in this section:

• Fatalities in crashes involving large trucks made up 10 percent of all fatalities in motor vehicle crashes in 2009.
• Persons injured in large truck crashes made up 3 percent of all persons injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2009.
• Of the 3,187 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes, 127 (4 percent) were 25 years of age or younger, and 163 (5 percent) were 66 years of age or older. In comparison, 27 (12 percent) of the 221 drivers of buses in fatal crashes were 25 years of age or younger, and 16 (7 percent) were 66 years of age or older.
• About 3 percent of all the drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes were female, as compared with 39 percent of all drivers of buses involved in fatal crashes.
• Of the 3,187 drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes, 350 (11 percent) were not wearing a safety belt at the time of the crash; of those, 27 percent were completely or partially ejected from the vehicle.
• One or more driver-related factors were recorded for 60 percent of the drivers of large trucks involved in single-vehicle fatal crashes but for only 24 percent of the drivers of large trucks involved in multiple-vehicle fatal crashes. In comparison, at least one driver-related factor was recorded for 77 percent of the drivers of passenger vehicles (cars, vans, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles) involved in single-vehicle crashes and 51 percent of the passenger vehicle drivers in multiple-vehicle crashes. Speeding and failure to keep in the proper lane were the two driver-related factors most often coded for both vehicle types.