Road to Zero Safety Priority Statement Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Speed Limiters in Large Trucks

Current Situation:

In 2019, there were more than 5,000 people killed in crashes involving large trucks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Since a low in 2009, fatalities in large truck crashes have increased 48 percent. Additionally, in 2018, 151,000 people were injured in crashes involving a large truck, the latest year for which data is available.

Based on the latest full data¹ available, of the approximately 5,000 fatalities in 2018:

• 71 percent (3,525) were occupants of vehicles other than large trucks
• 18 percent (885) were occupants of large trucks
• 11 percent (541) were nonoccupants (pedestrians, pedal cyclists, etc.)

To view the full ADAS and Speed Limiters in Large Trucks Priority Statement, click here.

Proposed Position:

Technology solutions can prevent or mitigate crashes and should be more widely deployed in large trucks. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are vehicle technologies that assist drivers to avoid crashes through passive notifications and active interventions. ADAS can include automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warning. Speed limiting technology is already installed on most large commercial trucks and can be set to limit the maximum speed the truck may travel.

ADAS and speed limiters can reduce the frequency and severity of large truck crashes. Lives can be saved. Heavy truck manufacturers should install these technologies as standard equipment on new commercial vehicles that operate on U.S. roads and Highways. ADAS should be subject to minimum performance standards, and speed limiters should be set at a safe maximum speed that will reduce crashes as demonstrated by objective, independent research.

Projected Reduction in Crashes:

ADAS and speed limiters can prevent and mitigate crashes from a wide range of causes including speed, distraction, fatigue, and impairment. In 2017, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety² found that if all new large trucks were installed with automatic emergency braking and air disc brakes, 7,705 crashes, 92 deaths and 4,200 injuries could be avoided annually. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)³, truck speed limiters, if set to a maximum speed of 65 mph, could save more than 200 lives and prevent nearly 5,000 injuries annually

Supporters of Road to Zero Coalition Priority Statement on Vulnerable Road Users:

• Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, saferoads.org
• American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, aamva.org
• American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, transportation.org
• FIA Foundation, fiafoundation.org
• Institute of Transportation Engineers, ite.org
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, iihs.org
• Intelligent Car Coalition, intelligentcarcoalition.org
• Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association,mema.org
• National Association of City Transportation Officials, nacto.org
• National Association of State Emergency Medical Service Officials, nasemso.org
• National Center for Rural Road Safety, ruralsafetycenter.org
• National District Attorneys Association, ndaa.org
• National League of Cities, nlc.org
• National Safety Council, nsc.org
• National Sheriffs' Association, sheriffs.org
• The Trucking Alliance, truckingalliance.org
• Vision Zero Network, visionzeronetwork.org

Upon sign-up you will receive an email from RoadToZero@nsc.org with a link to the full statement. If you do not receive an email within 48 hours, please email us at RoadToZero@nsc.org. Please also remember to add this email address to your safe sender list through your email provider to avoid updates going to your junk mail.

¹https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812891

²https://aaafoundation.org/air-disc-brakes-leveraging-large-truck-technology-engineering-realize-safety-gains/

³https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-09-07/pdf/2016-20934.pdf