Drivers of large trucks and other vehicles involved in truck crashes are ten times more likely to be the cause of the crash than other factors, such as weather, road conditions and vehicle performance, according to a new study released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The “Large Truck Crash Causation Study,” conducted with the help of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), investigated a national sample of fatal and injury crashes between April 2001 and December 2003 at 24 sites in 17 states. Each crash involved at least one large truck and resulted in at least one fatality or injury. The total sample of 967 crashes included 1,127 large trucks, 959 non-truck motor vehicles, 251 fatalities and 1,408 injuries. Action or inaction by the driver of either the truck or other vehicle was the critical reason for 88 percent of the crashes. The first nationwide examination of all pre-crash factors, the study was commissioned by FMCSA to review the causes of, and contributing factors to, crashes involving commercial motor vehicles.