FATAL ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT RATES BY DRIVER AGE FOR LARGE TRUCKS

Survey data on large trucks involved in fatal accidents and on the travel of large trucks provide estimates of fatal accident involvement rates by driver age. The analysis is focused on the implications of lowering the minimum age for drivers of commercial trucks operating interstate from 21 to 19 years. Fatal accident involvement rates for drivers of large trucks are found to increase with decreasing driver age. The younger drivers are over-involved until about age 27. Drivers under the age of 21 are over-involved by a factor of 6 in comparison to the overall rate for all drivers. Other factors known to have significant influences on the probability of involvement in a fatal accident were examined to determine their association with the over-involvement of younger drivers. The general pattern of over-involvement for younger drivers pervades virtually every combination of factors examined. Thus, it is concluded that the basic trend with driver age shown in the aggregate data is primarily associated with age and is not associated with the other factors examined. The results of this analysis substantiate an elevated risk of fatal accident involvement for younger drivers of large trucks. © 1991.