Texas Leads the Country in Truck Accident Fatalities

By Heather Siladi

Published on October 17, 2006

Texas has more miles of road than any other state and the second largest number of registered trucks, but these figures still do not account for Texas’ truck accident fatality rate, which is measured by the number of deaths per 100,000 people. Texas ranked 24th in the nation in fatalities, while California, whose volume of trucking traffic exceeds that of Texas, ranked 38th. Each year, truck accidents also injure 10,000 more people in Texas than in California.

The debate over what exactly is responsible for these accidents is a heated one, and the Department of Public Safety is little help since its database tracks “contributing factors" rather than causes.

A comprehensive national study by the U.S. Department of Transportation showed that truck drivers were the cause of 44 percent of all accidents between big trucks and cars. The American Trucking Association claims that truckers are only responsible for fatal accidents 25 percent of the time.

Law enforcement agencies claim that that trucking companies consistently flout trucking regulations, and that there are not enough law enforcement officials on the road to enforce compliance with safety laws.

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