Truck Safety Coalition Lists Deadliest States for Trucking
On September 19th the Truck Safety Coalition released a document listing the number of fatalities for each state, both by total number and by population. Here are those results.
Methodology
The Truck Safety Coalition compiled data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on truck crash fatalities in 2020, the latest data, and compared it to the population sizes of each state to determine how safe each state is.
Most Truck Deaths (Total)
- Texas, 643.
- California, 398.
- Florida, 344.
- Georgia, 234.
- Tennessee, 179.
- Illinois, 178.
- North Carolina, 170.
- Indiana, 153.
- Ohio, 149.
- Alabama, 141.
- Pennsylvania, 133.
- South Carolina, 132.
It stands to reason that the top three most populated states in the nation also have the highest number of fatalities: more population means more demand for goods which leads to more trucks traveling on its roads. But what about when adjusting for population?
Most Truck Deaths (Per 100K)
- 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.
Conclusion
The information that can be gleaned from both data sets is this:
- Lower population is correlated with higher rates per 100,000, as Wyoming is the least populous state and others on the list (such as North Dakota and South Dakota) are also near the bottom in terms of population. A lower population is not an excuse to drive recklessly.
- No matter how you slice it, South Carolina and Tennessee are places where truck drivers should be more careful: they both placed on both lists.
- Despite having icy roads that may lead one to believe it is a top contender, Alaska did not place on either list.
- The data comes from 2020, the peak year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite fewer vehicles on the road, numbers surged upward, further suggesting a correlation between the number of vehicles on the road with the level of safety per 100,000.
The Truck Safety Coalition hopes to use the data to lobby Congress into providing more funds in specific areas for truck safety, where it can be applied the most effectively.
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