Truck safety advocates are calling on the Biden administration to act faster to prevent deaths resulting from large truck crashes, following new data compiled from federal sources.
The one-page report, released by the Truck Safety Coalition, ranks the 12 states with the highest fatality rates and overall deaths, based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
| State | Fatality rate* |
| Wyoming | 4.3 |
| South Dakota | 3.1 |
| Nebraska | 2.9 |
| Arkansas | 2.9 |
| Montana | 2.9 |
| Alabama | 2.9 |
| Idaho | 2.9 |
| Mississippi | 2.8 |
| North Dakota | 2.7 |
| Kentucky | 2.6 |
| Tennessee | 2.6 |
| South Carolina | 2.5 |
Wyoming and South Dakota recorded the highest fatality rates by population, and Texas and California had the highest deaths overall, based on 2020 data, the latest available (see table). Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a “crisis” level 13% jump in large truck fatalities.
“The large truck fatality crisis is an unattended and ignored public health crisis and it’s time for [Transportation] Secretary Buttigieg and members of Congress to act accordingly,” said former NHTSA Administrator Joan Claybrook, speaking Monday at the coalition’s press conference on Capitol Hill.
“The solutions are not a mystery. The Department of Transportation has the full authority right now to require proven low-cost technology like automatic emergency braking [AEB] and advanced driver assistance systems [ADAS] for all commercial motor vehicles that over time will save thousands of lives and injuries.”
The infrastructure law enacted in November requires that NHTSA begin a study and initiate a rulemaking on AEB standards for heavy trucks. In a letter sent in June to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), NHTSA said it is “working to issue” the AEB rulemaking, which NTSB has included on its Top Ten Most Wanted list.
Referring to the coalition’s report, Claybrook, board chair for Citizens for Reliable Safe Highways, a coalition partner, said it is “striking” that the highest crash fatality rates are in rural states.
“Other than Senator Wicker from Mississippi, senators in these 12 states are often the sponsors of rollbacks in truck safety, even though their population is hit so hard,” she said.
Claybrook also railed against a NHTSA final rule issued in June that she and other safety groups contend does not go far enough on equipment standards for tractor trailer underride guards.
“[The final rule] should be updated immediately,” Claybrook said. “Many companies are already installing newer technology that has been fully tested by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. DOT ignored life-saving research, testing and analysis and issued an antique standard rather than a modern standard.”