Nearly one quarter of all the vehicle crashes each year in the United States are related to adverse weather conditions, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). On average, nearly 6,000 people are killed annually and over 445,000 are injured in these crashes, which number over 1.2 million.
Last winter, storms in the New England area broke records for snowfall. And winter started early in the Midwest this year, with snow storms in October that resulted in torrential rain for the Northeast.
Winter driving related crash statistics from the DOT:
- 24 percent of weather-related vehicle crashes occur on snowy, slushy, or icy pavements
- 15 percent of weather-related vehicle crashes happen during snowfall or sleet
- 1,300+ people are killed, and 116,800 people are injured in vehicle crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavements each year
- Accidents on icy roads kill at least twice the number of people annually than all other severe weather hazards combined (tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning, floods, high winds)
All this is happening as we are in the midst of trying to reverse some distressing trends: While the number of injury crashes involving large trucks or buses decreased steadily from 95,000 in 2004 to 60,000 in 2009 (a decline of 37 percent), this decline was followed by an increase of 55 percent from 2009 to 2014, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The FMCSA also noted that from 2013 to 2014, the number of large trucks involved in injury crashes increased by 21 percent, from 73,000 to 88,000.
Ryder takes driver safety very seriously, and we want to keep your fleet operations running safer and smoother during the winter season. That’s why we created the Winter Preparedness Hub to provide practical advice, information and tips to keep your fleet up and running. There’s a lot we can do to make the roads safer for winter travel.
This article was originally featured on Ryder.com.