VCU news

By Mike Frontiero and Michael Pratt

RICHMOND, Va. – While drivers of passenger vehicles and large trucks disagree on who drives more safely, two surveys conducted by the Center for Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University show they do agree on one thing – and they are both wrong. The majority of both groups believe most fatal crashes involving large trucks and passenger vehicles occur on interstates.

Actually, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 2001 Large Truck Crash Facts, 75 percent of all crashes occurred on other types of roadways. “This is a common misperception that needs to be corrected,” said Michael D. Pratt, Ph.D., VCU professor of economics and a member of the Center for Public Policy.“ One purpose for these surveys is to help identify areas of misperception among drivers so that initiatives can be developed to address actual safety-related conditions on our roadways.”  

When asked who is at fault in these crashes, 67 percent of the truck drivers pinned the blame on passenger vehicle drivers, but only five percent felt truck drivers were to blame. Thirty-four percent of the passenger vehicle respondents put the blame on their fellow drivers while 15 percent blamed truck drivers. Approximately 30 percent of both groups feel that both truck and vehicle drivers are equally at fault.

Crash data, however, show passenger vehicles are more often at fault in truck-passenger vehicle crashes than truck drivers. In the truck-passenger vehicle crashes occurring in 2001, 37 percent of truck drivers were cited for crash-related factors while 65 percent of passenger vehicle drivers were cited for crash-related factors.

The studies also show that truck drivers, 85 percent of them, think they drive at least somewhat safely. Only 42 percent of these respondents, who drive for a living, feel that passenger vehicle drivers drive safely. And their opinion of SUV drivers isn’t much better. Only 45 percent of truck drivers felt that SUV drivers operate their vehicles at least somewhat safely.

Truck drivers – 78 percent – think their fellow drivers operate at least somewhat aggressively around passenger vehicles. But the overwhelming majority of truck drivers – 94 percent – feel passenger vehicle operators drive aggressively around big trucks.

Almost 90 percent of both truck and passenger vehicle drivers rate passenger bus drivers as at least somewhat safe drivers. And 51 percent of both groups do not think bus drivers operate aggressively around passenger vehicles.

On the other hand, 68 percent of passenger vehicle drivers think they drive at least somewhat safely and 69 percent of them rate SUV drivers as safe drivers. Of these respondents, 73 percent felt truck drivers operate at least somewhat aggressively around passenger vehicles.

The two studies were conducted on behalf of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and a multi-state consortium representing Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and North Carolina. The consortium was created to identify motor carrier safety issues in these states and to make recommendations for corrective actions. The studies were conducted as part of the research phase. Responses were gathered from 626 drivers from 46 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, and 2,415 drivers from the four consortium states.  

Members of the consortium will meet later this year to review the survey data and make recommendations.