United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-02-23 monographic deposited born digital 15 p. GA 1.13:T-RCED-99-89 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89 P0b002ee1803709d1 f:rc99089t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89 T-RCED-99-89 Motor vehicle safety Accident prevention Traffic accidents Safety regulation Motor carrier operations Safety standards Trucking operations Public roads or highways NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System Testimony RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the safety of large commercial trucks on the nation's highways, focusing on: (1) trends in crashes involving large trucks; (2) factors that contribute to such crashes; and (3) the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's (OMCHS) activities to improve the safety of large trucks.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) of the nearly 42,000 people who died on the nation's highways in 1997, about 5,400 died from crashes involving large trucks; (2) this represents a 20 percent increase from 1992; (3) at the same time, the annual number of miles traveled by large trucks increased by a similar proportion; (4) if this trend of increasing truck travel continues, the number of fatalities could increase to 5,800 in 1999 and to more than 6,000 in 2000; (5) while trucks are involved in fewer crashes per mile traveled than are cars, crashes involving trucks are more likely to result in a fatality; (6) in 1997, 98 percent of the fatalities from crashes between trucks and cars were the occupants of the car; (7) although no definitive information on the causes of crashes involving large trucks exists, several factors contribute to these crashes; (8) these contributing factors include errors on the part of car and truck drivers, truck driver fatigue, and vehicle defects; (9) of these factors, errors on the part of car drivers are cited most frequently as contributing to crashes involving large trucks; (10) specifically, errors by car drivers were reported in 80 percent of the crashes, while truck drivers errors were reported in 28 percent of the crashes; (11) while many factors outside OMCHS' authority--such as the use of safety belts by car occupants and states' actions--influence the number of fatalities that result from crashes involving large trucks, the Federal Highway Administration has established a goal for 1999 of reducing these fatalities; (12) its goal is to reduce the number of fatalities to below the 1996 level of 5,126--substantially less than the projected figure of 5,800; (13) OMCHS has undertaken a number of activities intended to achieve this goal, such as identifying high-risk carriers for safety improvements and educating car drivers about how to share the road with large trucks; and (14) however, OMCHS is unlikely to reach the goal because: (a) its initiative to target high-risk carriers for safety improvements depends on data that are not complete, accurate, or timely; (b) several activities will not be completed before the end of 1999; and (c) the effectiveness of OMCHS' educational campaign to improve car drivers' behavior is unknown. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89/html/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89.pdf GAO/T-RCED-99-89 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-99-89 Testimony GAO/T-RCED-99-89; Truck Safety: Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Reduce Fatalities Are Likely to Have Little Short-term Effect; Motor vehicle safety Accident prevention Traffic accidents Safety regulation Motor carrier operations Safety standards Trucking operations Public roads or highways NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System