Trucks and truck drivers are safest, according to MTO report

by Truck News

TORONTO, Ont. – The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has released the latest edition of the Ontario Road Safety Annual Report (ORSAR) today and it shows that trucks and truck drivers are the safest vehicles and drivers on the road.

The ORSAR, which contains the results for 2012, explains that large trucks and tractor-trailers represented a mere 4.5 % of the total number of vehicles involved in all collisions in Ontario. In addition, tractors and tractor-trailers represented only 2.4% of the total number of vehicles involved in all collisions in 2012.

According to the data there were 100 fatalities– which represents 17.6% of all fatalities – in collisions involving all types of large trucks in 2012, one fewer than the previous year. As well, concerning fatal collisions, the report found the driver of the large truck was driving properly 68% of the time versus 39% for the other driver in the same fatal collisions.

The report confirmed that that trucks and truck drivers are not usually the cause of the fatal collisions they are involved in and truck drivers are far less likely to have been drinking or impaired by alcohol or drugs – 2% compared to 17% for other drivers involved in the same crashes.

According to a release, the OTA “compiled data from the ORSAR reports going back to 1993 and found that despite a 79% increase in the number of large trucks registered in Ontario, the number of large truck fatalities decreased from 202 in 1993 to 100 in 2012.”

David Bradley, OTA president said this of the findings: “Highway safety is an ever-evolving thing. While the trucking industry has an enviable record in terms of safety, our members are dedicated to continuous improvement and to the implementation of meaningful measures to reduce collisions further.”


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*

  • Ok then why all the inspection enforcement? Trucking companies are targeted far too much to the point where our freedom of movement in a free country to move about and perform our daily duties is always being scrutinized and interupted and this study proves that it’s unjustified. Just a waste of taxpayers dollars to support government employess and to basically bully people everyday who are just trying to make a living. That’s your Liberal government working for you…just another cash grab.

    • It is because of the inspection and enforcement that these statistics have gone down so dramatically. Since the mid-90’s there has been a reduction in the number of reported wheel separation of over 70%.

      During RoadCheck 2014 only 78% of the trucks inspected were found to be in compliance. In Ontario approximately 121,000 trucks, buses and drivers are inspected by the MTO with an average of over 28,000 charges laid.

      While the trucking industry has come a long way and is to be congratulated for these statistical accomplishments stopping the inspection enforcement would result in corporate profits, not safety, driving the future.

      An interesting note – there are only about 340 Transportation Enforcement Officers of the MTO with around 180 enforcement vehicles to cover the entire province consisting of over 20,000 km of main roadways and an area of over 1,000,000 square kilometres (about 1/6th the size of the entire 48 Lower States).

      • Twenty-two percent failure rate is something I see often. A simple number and I believe a misleading number because to the media and public, due to what appears to be an ambiguous number without a separation or segregation of equipment types, a large net is cast that snags large transport trucks in the same formula with every other definition of a CMV. The problem is that smaller private outfits that may not move freight as their primary specialized field, but simply have commercial equipment for the sake of moving their own product, construction, or even a simple service truck . Lumping carriers specializing exclusively in transportation of goods with every other CMV of other distinctions is a false stat. At first glance from the public and the media , it is usually associated with transport truck. When I watch the Twitter feeds , it’s always these characters that get posted. What are the real stats without the ambiguous generalizations. A separation of equipment with those stats would paint a clearer and fairer picture.

  • So Joe,
    You think the enforcement may have something to do with the low rate of collisions involving trucks….

  • David Bradley’s comments at the end of your article are not appreciated. This is a good news story that he minimizes.

  • Your comments are why they need vehicle enforcement JOE!!! Driving a commercial is just that a commercial vehicle and it is regulated by the government bodies like Ontario. It is actually hard the even think that these stats are even close to what actually happens out on the hi-way. I have driven professionally for 35 years and I have seen a lot of inexperience and crappy heavy vehicles on the road that needed to be along with the person behind the wheel of the big rig. I am glad that I am not on the road anymore and see such attitudes like the one you share. If you want the freedom as you have stated then go buy a large truck and 5th wheel trailer and go camping as there are no rules for that.

    • Any truck that uses a fifthwheel set up is in fact regulated and must have a yearly inspection sticker.

      MTO can stop and inspect these trucks just they do commercial vehicles

  • David Bradley was too kind. Not proud, but some truckers have an over exhausting sense of haste.