New Mexico leads nation in service vehicle severe incident crashes

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A recent report from GPS-tracking/fleet management company Fleetmatics on service vehicle driver safety has revealed New Mexico as the state with the most severe driving incidents involving service-based vehicles, like trucks used in tow operations.

Service vehicles, classified by the Department of Transportation as Class 1-5, account for 1 in 10 registered vehicles on the road in the United States with 27.6 million, according to the report. Tractor-trailers only account for 5.6 million registered vehicles.

For the purpose of the report, Fleetmatics defined a “severe driving incident” as one comprised of acceleration, cornering, braking or speeding over 80 miles per hour.

In contrast to New Mexico, which has 101 percent more severe driving incidents than the national average, North Dakota has the fewest, with 53 percent fewer than the national average. New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas and Louisiana round out the top five states with the most service vehicle severe driving incidents. Delaware, Alabama, Iowa and Illinois finish the top five states with the least of these crashes.

Although New Mexico has the most severe incidents, it is below the national average in the harsh acceleration, hard turns and harsh braking categories. It is, however, 359 percent above the national average in the speeding over 80 mph category.

Broken down by industry, public administration accounted for the most severe driving incidents with service vehicles. Fleetmatics said in the report the group includes police and fire protection vehicles, which are at a higher risk of these incidents, but added that public administration would still have the most severe driving incidents of any group if police and fire were removed.

The freight transportation and warehousing industry accounted for the least amount of severe driving incidents, according to the report.