A new report released today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) summarizes the car-truck relative contribution/fault findings of several large-scale studies.

ATA's paper cites studies by the University of Michigan, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, AAA, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, all of which show that many, many crashes involving a commercial truck and a smaller vehicle were initiated or caused by the driver of the smaller vehicle.

"The principal policy reason for evaluating relative contribution, and the nature of errors that increase crash risk, is to design and implement cost-effective truck safety programs that yield the greatest safety benefits," ATA President and CEO, Bill Graves said.  "In the context of prevention and countermeasures, it's critical to understand relative contribution since cars are involved in the majority of truck crashes. Every crash, and every fatality and injury, suffered on our nation's highways is a tragedy," Graves said.  "Preventing them from happening requires a proper understanding of the causes of these crashes. It is also tragic that carriers and drivers across this country are saddled with guilt and blame for many crashes they could do nothing to prevent."

Graves added that it is imperative that FMCSA institute a fair process to address the question of crash accountability in its Compliance, Safety, Accountability monitoring system.