Road safety is a huge concern for truck drivers. The transportation services company Simplex conducted a study about this problem, and the results reveal that Michigan highways are the safest. Therefore, this might be the best state for pursuing a truck driver job.
This post reveals more about which states are considered to be safest for truck drivers. Also, we explain the methodology used in the study.
Safety Study
The study used data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from 2022, and the results are surprising. The second safest highway for truck drivers is in Vermont, with Hawaii being in third place.
When it comes to the state with the least safety, Wyoming takes the first place. Idaho takes the second place, followed by Nebraska.
The study used Pacific analyzing methodology to identify the state with the least truck driving incidents, declaring it as the safest. The approach measures the percentage of truck accidents in the total fatal road accidents per state.
In Michigan, 4.72% of all fatal road accidents involve trucks. The report includes 1,567 fatal crashes, of which 74 belong to large trucks. The Michigan Department of Transportation states that the number of road fatalities has decreased by 2.9% from 2018 to 2022. Also, the number of serious injuries decreased by 10.6%.
The second place for safest roads is occupied by Vermont. A total of 80 fatal crashes were recorded, of which 5% involved trucks in the last year.
The third place with the least accidents involving trucks is Hawaii. In the last year, there were only 5.26% truck accidents. Six accidents involved trucks from a total of 114 vehicles involved in crashes.
Delaware is one-fourth place on the list of safest roads for truck drivers. 5.56% of fatal accidents have trucks. Of the total of 162 vehicles included in dangerous accidents in the last year, nine were trucks.
Massachusetts takes the fifth place on this list, with 5.74%. During the last 12 months, 488 vehicles were involved in dangerous crashes. Twenty-eight of them were large trucks.Â
The least safe state
According to this study, Wyoming has shown to be the least safe state for truck drivers. 18.97% of the fatal road accidents had large trucks involved. With 174 crashes, 33 of them had truck drivers involved.
The second place for the least safe state is taken by Idaho. Out of 300 accidents, 49 had trucks involved. This is 16.33% of the total crashes.
Nebraska is the third state on this list, where the truck-involved accident rate is 15.92%. In 2022, there were 333 fatal road accidents, of which 53 had a truck involved.
Iowa takes the fourth place on this list, with 14.35%. 333 vehicles were involved in dangerous crashes, of which 53 were trucks.
North Dakota is the fifth on the list, with 18 trucks involved in accidents out of 136 total vehicles. This comes to 13.24% of the total number of dangerous accidents.
Final thoughts
The report summarizes the road accidents by state, giving useful insights for truck drivers. The study reveals the states that have implemented a strategy for safer highways. Also, it defines the states that need to improve the truck safety road systems.
In 2022, 4842 trucks were involved in fatal crashes. The study is very helpful for truck drivers, as they can prepare before driving to the states marked with the least safety.
Feature image by Unsplash
