Crash-related fatalities among occupants of large trucks rose 20 percent in 2011 from 2010 — which has spurred action from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — while the overall number of highway deaths in 2011 fell to levels not seen since the 1940s, said the Department of Transportation this week.
The FMCSA says it is looking into what factors drove the large occupant death rate higher.
Americans drove fewer miles in 2011, the DOT said, but the number of accidents per 100 million vehicle miles traveled dropped more so than the number of miles driven.
