One clear trend that is unlikely to change is that accidents between trucks and passenger vehicles result in more deaths to the occupants of the smaller vehicle. With trucks weighing many times more than other vehicles, cars bear the brunt of the damage.
The higher clearance of trucks also creates a dangerous disparity when trucks and cars collide.
Truck accident fatalities in 2019
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently looked at the 2019 statistics for fatalities in large truck accidents. Of 4,119 deaths from truck accidents, only 16% belonged to riders in the trucks. Approximately 67% of the deaths occurred to occupants of passenger vehicles, while 15% belonged to pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists. These numbers, though, represent a higher percentage of truck occupant deaths than in the past.
When trucks collided with passenger vehicles in two-car crashes the number of passenger vehicle occupant deaths soared, accounting for 97% of deaths. When tabulating all traffic fatalities for 2019, 11% involved large truck crashes.
Fatal crashes in Virginia in 2018
The National Highway Safety Administration reported that 820 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2018, down from 839 in 2017. Of these deaths, the highest number involved a collision with a fixed object. A total of 319 people died when a motor vehicle ran into a fixed object, amounting to 41% of deaths. A collision with another motor vehicle accounted for 273 deaths. Only 29 deaths happened as the result of a turnover accident.
Fewer traffic deaths occurred on interstates or freeways than happened on arterial roads or local roads. A total of 14 states recorded more fatal crashes than did Virginia in 2018.