Safety Facts and Statistics
- According to US DOT, there would be an approximate 11% reduction in the amount of truck vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and a corresponding reduction in accidents, by giving the green light to 97,000 pound 6 axle trucks compared with maintaining the current 80,000 pound weight restrictions on the Interstates.
- There would be 20-year pavement restoration costs savings of nearly $2.5 billion dollars utilizing the 97,000 pound 6 axle truck compared to the 80,000 pound 5 axle truck, thus creating safer roads for all travelers.
- 97,000 pound 6 axle trucks had an improvement of approximately 5% in its Rearward Amplification during DOT's testing compared with the 80,000 pound 5 axle trucks.
- 97,000 pound 6 axle trucks had less than a 5% decrease in its Load Transfer Ratio during DOT's testing compared with the 80,000 pound 5 axle trucks.
- 97,000 pound 6 axle trucks had less than a 5% decrease in Static Roll Stability in DOT's testing compared with the 80,000 pound 5 axle trucks.
- The vehicle crash-rate for large trucks is 2.16 per million miles. This compares to 5.53 for cars and 4.33 for light trucks.
- In 71% of all accidents involving a truck and passenger vehicle, police officers on the scene assigned one or more crash factors to the passenger vehicle driver and none to the truck driver.
- The percentage of truck drivers in fatal crashes who were intoxicated is 1.1%. This compares to 18.2% for cars and 20.2% for light trucks.
"All other things being equal, increases or decreases in the exposure to crash risk proportionally increases or decreases the likelihood of a crash. Thus, changes in the number of truck trips made to haul the same amount of freight, could alter the likelihood of crashes."
US DOT's Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study
"Truck travel, as well as all vehicle travel, on lower standard roads…significantly increases crash risks compared to travel on Interstate and other high quality roadways. The majority of fatal crashes involving trucks occur on highways with lower standards."
US DOT's Comprehensive Truck Size and Weight Study