Michigan was named the safest state for large truck drivers in a recent study.
Simplex, a transportation service provider, conducted the study using National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 2020. It showed that Michigan had the lowest percentage of fatal crashes involving large trucks, with 4.72%.
Michigan was the only state to have a percentage under five percent.
According to the Department of Transportation, road fatalities in Michigan have dropped almost three percent between 2018 and 2022.
Owner of Road Warrior Trucking School in Otsego County Kurt Stocker said one of the reasons Michigan is safe is because the state pays close attention to what the schools are teaching.
“We have something in Michigan called the Michigan Center for Truck Safety and we get a lot of materials from them,” Stocker said. “Michigan has put a big emphasis on trainers and the requirements to become a trainer, (and) the requirements on the schools themselves.”
Stocker said driving schools across Michigan share information to make sure the best tools are used to learn.
“Safety is one of the number one things that we train right from the time that a student starts here at the school all the way through graduation,” he said. “There is no part of our training that doesn't include a safety element, and most of the schools around here feel the same way.”
Vermont and Hawaii rounded out the top three safest states.
Wyoming, Idaho and Nebraska ranked in the bottom three for truck safety.