Colorado Fatal Bus Accident Statistics
There were 56 crashes in Colorado involving large trucks and buses in 2015, which is a slight decrease from 57 in 2014. A total of 64 fatalities were the result of these accidents, according to a report by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The numbers have held steady over the past ten-year period included in the report. In 2005, 68 fatalities were recorded. Some years have seen a significant increase such as in 2007 when 83 deaths were recorded. Other years, such as in 2009 with 40 deaths, saw a decline.
The majority of accidents involved multiple vehicles, In fact, only 11 were single-vehicle incidents. The other 45 involved multiple vehicles. Nationally, most crashes with large trucks/buses involve two vehicles. The rate of fatal crashes per million people for Colorado was 10.26 for 2015, which is lower than the national average of 11.19. However, it has increased significantly over 2010 with a rate of 8.35.
Buses are defined in this report as vehicles with nine passengers or more, including the driver. This includes school buses, intercity transport buses, van-buses and other vehicles. The majority of traffic crashes nationwide involving buses and big rigs happen during the day on weekdays in non-construction zones. Most of them occur on dry pavement in clear weather. While the number of buses on the roads have increased, the number of fatalities have gone down. Over 870,000 buses were registered in 2015 while the fatality rate per one million miles driven was 1.77. This number is drastically reduced from 1975, when over 460,000 buses were registered with a rate of 5.75.
Two counties saw more fatalities involving these large vehicles than other counties in Colorado. Weld County reported 11 fatalities for 2015, which was a decrease from the prior year with 18. Larimer County reported seven deaths.