The effect of state regulations on truck-crash fatalities

Abstract

To improve traffic safety, states limit truck length and weight, and some set lower speed limits for trucks than for other vehicles. We examined the impact of truck-specific restrictions and general traffic-safety policies on fatality rates from crashes involving large trucks. We used state-level data from 1991 to 2005 with a cross-sectional time-series model that controlled for several policy measures. We found that higher speed limits for cars and trucks contributed to higher fatality rates, but differential speed limits by vehicle type had no significant impact. Truck-length limitations reduced fatalities in crashes involving large trucks. Our model estimates suggested that if all states had adopted a speed limit of 55 miles per hour for all vehicles in 2005, an additional 561 fatalities would have been averted.

Note. Speed limits are given in miles per hour, with the speed limits for cars listed before those for trucks. The maximum rural speed limit in each state for each year was a state–year observation.

FIGURE 2

Mean number of fatalities in crashes involving large trucks per billion vehicle miles traveled (VMT), by rural interstate speed limits: United States, 1991–2005.