Abstract

Death or injury resulting from crashes involving light trucks (ie, pickup trucks) is a significant problem. Data show that fatal crashes and occupant fatalities involving light trucks have steadily increased since 1983. This project describes vehicle crashes involving passengers riding in the beds of pickup trucks. Actual crashes were identified through the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The 40 incidents studied involved 204 pickup truck passengers. Of these, 45 were killed, 107 sustained visible injuries or were carried from the scene, 6 had bruises and abrasions, and 2 had no visible injury but were briefly unconscious or had a documented complaint of pain. The risk of death among pickup truck passengers who were fully ejected from the vehicle was nearly six times that of passengers not fully ejected. Correspondingly, the risk of ejection from the truck was 26.7 times greater among occupants riding in the bed than occupants riding in the cab.