The Truck Safety Coalition is calling for safety reforms following the release of the Deadliest Truck Crash States report. Generated by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the report ranks states on truck crash fatalities per 100,000 population for 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.
The Coalition is a partnership between Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (The CRASH Foundation), and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.).
Deadliest Truck Crash States Report
Safety already seems to be on an upswing in the nearly two years since 2023. NHTSA is currently projecting a 8.2% decline in roadway deaths with the release of its early estimates for motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the first half of 2025. An estimated 17,140 people lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes from January through June 2025, down from 18,680 fatalities during the same period in 2024.
The "deadliest dozen" states for truck crashes, according tot he report, in order are Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Idaho, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota, and Alabama. NHTSA reports that large truck fatalities remain high, at nearly 5,500 deaths. In addition, there were more than 150,000 injuries.
From 2016 to 2022, fatal crashes involving large trucks and buses in the United States increased 26.4%, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
FMCSA in August kicked off the process to launch a new study into fatal heavy-duty truck crashes, as required by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA).
The agency has announced it will submit an information collection request to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a study titled “Crash Causal Factors Program: Heavy-Duty Truck Study Data Collection.” The CCFP’s current study focuses on fatal crashes involving Class 7-8 trucks, collecting and analyzing data on driver, vehicle, motor carrier, and environmental factors. It will collect a target sample of 2,000 fatal crashes involving heavy-duty trucks from about 30 States that were identified as key sampling locations for a nationally representative sample. Data will be collected over the course of two years, with a target start date of early 2026.
The Truck Safety Coalition, who traveled to D.C. Monday, is urging lawmakers and the Department of Transportation to:
- Require Automatic Emergency Braking for all newly manufactured classes of CMVs.
- Have FMCSA require new motor carriers to pass a knowledge exam proving that they know and can implement Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) required to safely operate a motor carrier business.
- Provide greater incentive for carriers to comply with existing statute that requires truck drivers to be tested for drugs and alcohol following a fatal crash.
- Pass the Sarah Debbink-Langenkamp Active Transportation Act (H.R. 2011/S. 944), allowing states increased flexibility for federally funded cyclist and pedestrian safety improvements.
- Act on and pass the Mail Traffic Deaths Reporting Act of 2025 (H.R. 75), which requires the U.S. Postal Service to issue regulations to mandate collecting, tracking, and publicly reporting information related to deaths and injuries resulting from traffic crashes involving vehicles transporting mail.
Already in the works
A notice of proposed rulemaking issued jointly by FMCSA and NHTSA this month is intended to require and/or standardize equipment performance for automatic emergency braking on heavy trucks and motor carrier maintenance requirements for vehicles equipped with such technology. The rulemaking is the result of a statutory mandate by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The agencies said the NPRM “proposes test procedures for measuring performance of these systems.” The agencies plan to publish the second NPRM by the end of the year.
FMCSA is already considering a new entrant safety assurance process, rulemaking which would consider methods for ensuring a new applicant carrier is knowledgeable about the applicable safety requirements before being granted New Entrant authority. FMCSA is considering whether to implement a proficiency examination as part of its revised New Entrant Safety Assurance Process, as well as other alternatives. The last action taken on this rule was in 2009, when an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) was issued. FMCSA is now projecting May 2026 for a second ANPRM to be published.
