DAYTON, Ohio — According to an analysis by John Fitch, an Ohio-based personal injury lawyer, Nebraska ranks No. 1 for the most dangerous state for drivers of large trucks.
Fitch conducted his analysis using recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of fatal crashes in each state during 2021. The NHTSA defines any commercial or non-commercial vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds as a large truck, excluding buses and motor homes.
Nebraska leads the way as the most dangerous state for large truck drivers, with 16.1% of vehicles involved in fatal crashes in the state being large trucks. The total number of fatal traffic crashes involving a large truck in 2021 was 50 out of a total 311 fatal traffic crashes.
Iowa is the second most dangerous state for large truck drivers; 15.5% of vehicles involved in fatal crashes were large trucks. The total number of fatal truck crashes was 76 out of 491 total fatal vehicle crashes.
In third place is Kansas. The Sunflower State had 14.4% of all fatal crashes involving a large truck. There were a total of 87 large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2021.
In fourth place, is Wyoming, where 14.1% of all fatal crashes in 2021 involved a large truck. The total number of fatal crashes involving a truck was 20, the lowest of the top 10 states.
With a total percentage of 13.8% of crashes involving a large truck, New Mexico is in fifth place. There were 89 fatal crashes involving a large truck in the state.
In sixth and seventh place, are Utah and Indiana with rates of 13.3% and 13.2% respectively. Although not much separates the two states in terms of percentage, Utah had 63 fatal crashes involving large trucks, while Indiana had 184.
Texas is in eighth place, with 12.8% of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes being trucks. Texas also had the highest total amount of large trucks involved in fatal crashes compared to any other state, with 832.
In ninth and tenth place are Idaho and Arkansas with 12.5% and 12.2% respectively. Idaho had 47 total large trucks involved in a fatal traffic crash, while Arkansas had 117.
At the other end of the scale, Rhode Island is the safest place for truck drivers, with just three large trucks involved in a fatal crash during 2021, which amounted to just 3.2% of all fatal crashes in the state.
“During the time period measured, there were a total of 5,699 fatal crashes involving trucks across the U.S., which amounts to 9.3% of the overall number of 61,265 deadly crashes,” noted a spokesperson for Fitch. “The states in the top 10 all have considerably higher rates of crashes than the national average. It’s important for drivers to be aware of the risks at all times, and particularly in these states.”
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
