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I'd like to see a comparison of accidents, (or better, deaths), per million miles of personal vehicles vs. trucks. I'm pretty sure trucks will come out as causi

by jbeales 11y ago

I'd like to see a comparison of accidents, (or better, deaths), per million miles of personal vehicles vs. trucks. I'm pretty sure trucks will come out as causing fewer accidents/deaths. I actually did the math for the 2009 - 2013 thing, and truck tonnage increased by 21.75%, so a 17% increase in accidents means that trucks got safer over that time.

alecdbrooks 11y ago
From the tables of fatalities per 100 million miles that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration compiles [0], the accident rate for trucks went up from 1.03 to 1.29. Passenger vehicle crashes are actually lower, going from 1.03 to 1. These are still on the low end historically: both rates were around 1.36 15 years ago. [0] http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-truck-and-bus-crash-facts-2012#Trends http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-tr.... I'm using tables 4 and 5.
- hyperpape 11y ago
  Thanks for the tables. They also show that the 2012 rates were somewhat lower than the 2007 rates, and much lower than they ever were before 2007 (>= 1.95). I still think it's right to expect sustained improvement over the long-term.
Zigurd 11y ago
> I'd like to see a comparison of accidents, (or better, deaths), per million miles of personal vehicles vs. trucks. I'm pretty sure trucks will come out as causing fewer accidents/deaths. Possibly true but irrelevant. You could go a trillion miles per fatality, but only the total fatalities matter, perhaps as a percentage of all road fatalities.
moogly 11y ago
Over the years, I've actually come to think those kind of statistics are kind of irrelevant. It comes off as rationalisation in the end. As soon as you start inputting people's lives in a cost/benefit analysis, I get really sad. What changed my mind? The effectiveness of Sweden's Vision Zero project: http://www.visionzeroinitiative.com/en/Concept/Does-the-vision-zero-work/ http://www.visionzeroinitiative.com/en/Concept/Does-the-visi... http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/11/the-swedish-approach-to-road-safety-the-accident-is-not-the-major-problem/382995/ http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/11/the-swedish-approach-...

by jbeales 11y ago

alecdbrooks 11y ago

From the tables of fatalities per 100 million miles that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration compiles [0], the accident rate for trucks went up from 1.03 to 1.29. Passenger vehicle crashes are actually lower, going from 1.03 to 1. These are still on the low end historically: both rates were around 1.36 15 years ago. [0] http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-truck-and-bus-crash-facts-2012#Trends http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-tr.... I'm using tables 4 and 5.

hyperpape 11y ago
Thanks for the tables. They also show that the 2012 rates were somewhat lower than the 2007 rates, and much lower than they ever were before 2007 (>= 1.95). I still think it's right to expect sustained improvement over the long-term.

Zigurd 11y ago

> I'd like to see a comparison of accidents, (or better, deaths), per million miles of personal vehicles vs. trucks. I'm pretty sure trucks will come out as causing fewer accidents/deaths. Possibly true but irrelevant. You could go a trillion miles per fatality, but only the total fatalities matter, perhaps as a percentage of all road fatalities.

moogly 11y ago

Over the years, I've actually come to think those kind of statistics are kind of irrelevant. It comes off as rationalisation in the end. As soon as you start inputting people's lives in a cost/benefit analysis, I get really sad. What changed my mind? The effectiveness of Sweden's Vision Zero project: http://www.visionzeroinitiative.com/en/Concept/Does-the-vision-zero-work/ http://www.visionzeroinitiative.com/en/Concept/Does-the-visi... http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/11/the-swedish-approach-to-road-safety-the-accident-is-not-the-major-problem/382995/ http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/11/the-swedish-approach-...