Vermont Fatal Bus Accident Statistics
There were eight traffic deaths from five fatal large truck and bus accidents in 2015 in Vermont. This number was down from nine in 2014 and seven in 2013. Five large vehicles were involved, and two of the five were single-vehicle accidents. This information is provided in a report from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
A bus is defined as a vehicle that has the ability to carry at least eight passengers and the driver. This includes transport and city buses as well as school buses and van-buses. The number of buses on the road have doubled since 1975. There were just over 462,000 buses registered in 1975 and more than 872,000 in 2014. However, the rate per million miles driven went down from 5.75 to 1.77.
Vermont has a fatality rate per one million people of 7.99, which is well below the national average of 11.19. However, the rate has declined from 14.38 in 2010 to a little over half. The population has stayed almost the same, but the number of fatal accidents has gone down.
The majority of large-vehicle accidents occur on rural roads at 50 to 55 mph with very few happening at intersections. Most crashes happen during weekdays in clear weather and on dry pavement. Very few occur in work zones.
Only five counties reported a fatality in 2015 in Vermont. Each one had at least one for the year. Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the state and had one traffic death for the past two years. Caledonia County reported two deaths for 2015 while in 2014, there were none. Rutland County had three for the year, which was up from two for the year before. Addison County also reported one fatality for the year.