WASHINGTON — The shortage of seat belt use amongst truck drivers is grabbing the eye of federal regulators concerned concerning the latest fatality data.
“One thing we’re seeing in trucking and other sectors is that seat belt usage is taking place,” said Polly Trottenberg, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, speaking at a DOT safety forum last week. “And once we have a look at the fatality numbers they’re extraordinarily disproportionately people who find themselves unbelted.”
In 2021, 64% of truck drivers killed in crashes of huge trucks weren’t wearing a seat belt, based on the most recent data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That compares with 59% in 2019 and 44% in 2020.
Data on deaths of large-truck occupants (drivers or passengers) reveals that 42.6% were wearing a seat belt. Of those that weren’t, nearly 75% were totally ejected from the truck.
“This can be a trend that we’re really specializing in, since it’s pretty clear the numbers are increasing,” said Jessica Powell, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration statistician who presented the info on Tuesday during a gathering of FMCSA’s Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC).
Large truck driver Fatalities, 2017-2021
Variety of fatal crashes | Variety of driver fatalities | Number not wearing seatbelt | % of driver fatalities not wearing seatbelt | |
2017 | 4,587 | 752 | 472 | 63% |
2018 | 4,678 | 754 | 479 | 64% |
2019 | 4,722 | 776 | 461 | 59% |
2020 | 4,607 | 730 | 320 | 44% |
2021 | 5,370 | 872 | 555 | 64% |
MCSAC’s two-day agenda includes finalizing a three-year strategic plan for the agency, to be approved later this 12 months after being reviewed by FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson.
Adrienne Gildea, deputy executive director of the Business Vehicle Safety Alliance and vice chair of the committee, considers the issue serious enough to be reflected in FMCSA’s strategic plan.
“I believe FMCSA should focus across their goals on that issue specifically, including outreach and education,” Gildea said throughout the meeting.
“They need to look more into who these drivers are — younger drivers, older drivers, in certain sectors or regions? Digging into that and understanding who is selecting not to make use of a security belt is very important and an area where once FMCSA has that information there’s a number of ways it might be used to enhance seat belt use and reduce those fatalities.”
Powell also emphasized that the variety of fatal crashes involving large trucks — 5,199 in 2021 — was up 16% from 2020. At the identical time, large-truck occupant fatalities jumped 23% to 1,019 in 2021, breaking the 1,000 mark for the primary time since at the least 2005.
Pedestrian and work-zone deaths in crashes involving large trucks are also on the rise, based on NHTSA data.
Speeding was essentially the most frequent truck driver-related consider 2021, based on NHTSA, cited in 7% of the cases. This includes exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for conditions. “Nonetheless, that is such an underreported data element, it’s not a real representation of what’s actually happening on the road,” Powell said, “nevertheless it is our greatest estimate.”
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